Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale

 

Activity domains affected by back pain measured by scale:

(1) bed/rest: 3 (may be also considered movement), 4, 8

(2) sitting/standing: 11, 13, 20

(3) ambulation: 2, 10, 17, 18

(4) movement: 5, 6, 7

(5) bending/stooping: 1, 9, 16

(6) handling large or heavy objects: 12, 14, 15, 19

 

Functional disability items:

(1) take food out of refrigerator

(2) climb 1 flight of stairs

(3) get out of bed

(4) sleep for 6 hours

(5) reach to a shelf

(6) make a bed

(7) throw a ball

(8) turn over in bed

(9) put on socks

(10) walk several blocks

(11) sit in car for 1 hour

(12) move a table

(13) stand for 30 minutes

(14) pull a heavy door

(15) carry groceries

(16) bend over the sink

(17) walk several miles

(18) run 2 blocks

(19) lift 40 pounds

(20) sit for 4 hours

 

Response	Points	11 Point Scale
not difficult at all	1	0
mildly difficult	2	1, 2 and 3
moderately difficult	3	4, 5 and 6
severely difficult	4	7, 8 and 9
extremely difficult	5	10

 

where:

• The items were scored on a 0 to 10 numerical (not a continuous) scale during initial development.

 

total score =

= SUM(points for all 20 items)

 

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 20

• maximum score: 100

• The higher the score the greater the disability.

 

percent of maximal disability =

= ((score) – 20) / 80 * 100%

 

Performance:

• The items selected are highly effective in discriminating between different levels of disability.

• Other measures (reliability, responsiveness, consistency) are described in Kopec et al (1996).