Reproducibility of a survey questionnaire for the investigation of low back problems in adolescents

A test-retest design was used to investigate the reproducibility of the res ults obtained using a survey questionnaire for low back problems in adolesc ents. A l-wk interval between test and retest was chosen. Participants were recruited from four schools. Selection of schools was based on geographic location, size of the school and educational level. Sixty-seven adolescents (mean age = 16.62 y; SD = 0.57; range = 16-18) suffering from low back pro blems agreed to participate. A questionnaire on perceived characteristics o f back problems and functional limitations was designed. Item completion ra te and the reproducibility of results were investigated by means of percent age agreement and (weighted) kappa. High levels of reproducibility were fou nd for items that evaluated perceived characteristics of back problems and functional limitations (K-W = 0.70-0.93). Results suggest that the question naire used in the present study provided reproducible information. Detailed information on low back problems in adolescents could be obtained using th is questionnaire.