Abstract

Low back pain has been a major public health burden for many years. Aim: To evaluate the utility of a questionnaire in assessment of low back pain and disability and evaluate the correlation between disability score, clinical features and imaging findings in patients with low back pain. Methods: a observational study conducted on 25 patients aged between 11-70 yrs old suffering from low back pain for 1 month at Orthopaedic department of P.B.M. Hospital attached to S.P. Medical College, Bikaner. Results: 60% of patients belong to age group 31-40 and 40-50 yrs . 24% of patients had lumbar scoliosis, in which majority (5) had concavity towards right side. Majority of patients 56% had reduced lumbar lordosis. Average disability score among patients with mild to moderate disability was 16.38 and among patients with moderate to severe disability and severe to extreme disability was 24.36 and 30 respectively. 13 patients had grade 1 disability, 11 patients had grade 2 disability & only 4% had grade 3 disability. Out of these 13 patients, 7 (53%) also had grade 1 X-ray changes. Similarly out of 11 patient (44%) with grade 2 disability, 9 patients (82%) had grade 2 X-ray changes. Conclusion: A questionnaire is a valid method of assessment of disability. Questionnaire should be designed according to patient’s lifestyle & requirements.

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