The Micheli Functional Scale (MFS) can be used to evaluate an athlete with low back pain. The authors are from Children's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. The last author is LJ Micheli.
Patient selection: athlete with low back pain (ages from 12 to 22 in study)
Parameters:
(1) impact of low back pain on sports participation
(2) impact on extension and running (bending backwards, upright activities)
(3) impact on flexion and sitting (sitting and bending forward)
(4) impact on jumping
(5) pain as 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) from none (0) to extreme (10)
Parameter
Finding
Points
impact of pain on sports activities
no pain
0
pain does not affect
1
pain has minimal effect
2
pain has moderate effect
3
pain has marked effect
4
unable to participate
5
extension
able to run and extend without limits
0
able to run but some pain on extension
1
running and extension cause pain
2
unable to extend at all
3
unable to run or extend
4
flexion
able to sit and flex the lumbar spine without limits
0
able to sit but some pain on flexion
1
sitting and flexion cause pain
2
unable to sit or do loaded flexion activities
3
jumping
able to jump without pain
0
jumping causes some pain
1
jumping causes severe pain
2
unable to jump
3
VAS for pain
total score =
= SUM(points for all 5 parameters)
MFS =
= 4 * (total score)
Interpretation:
• minimum total score and MFS: 0
• maximum total score: 25
• maximum MFS: 100
• The higher the score the greater the functional impairment.
To read more or access our algorithms and calculators, please log in or register.
