Abstract

Background: The evaluation of disability is highly relevant for the study and clinical follow-up of pain. Reliable and culturally valid instruments are required for this purpose. Aim: To adapt and to validate the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) to measure disability in low back pain Chilean patients and to study the psychometric properties of an abbreviated six item version of this instrument. Material and Methods: The instrument's original version was translated and back translated into Spanish, and specialists ensured the cultural validation to Chile. Disability mental health using the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and pain using a visual analogue scale (VAS) were evaluated in 206 patients, during a medical appointment due to acute low back pain. Results: The Chilean version of the original 24-item RDQ and the new six item version showed adequate internal consistency. The short version also showed a good convergent validity. It had the same pattern of correlations with VAS and GHQ-12 scales, as the original 24 item scale. Greater disability was associated with higher pain intensity and poorer mental health. The construct validity analysis identified one factor, for both versions of the RDQ. Conclusions: The adapted Chilean version of the original RDQ is a reliable and valid questionnaire, as well as the new abbreviated six items version, which showed adequate psychometric properties.