Visual analogue scale for the perceived influence of exertion and movements/positions on low back problems in surveys of adolescents

The test-retest reproducibility of visual analogue scales for the perceived influence of exertion and movements/positions on low back problems in adol escents was investigated. The study was performed on 61 adolescents with lo w back problems. Item completion, median score, interquartile range and wei ghted kappa were calculated. Results showed that visual analogue scales pro duce repeatable information for all items tested (weighted kappa: 0.59-0.83 ), except for the influence of pulling materials on back problems (0.45). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that adolescents, aged 16-18- y, can reproduce their visual analogue scores.