Identification of patients with chronic low back pain who might benefit from additional psychological assessment.

Objectives: To identify signs and symptoms that should alert clinicians to the need for additional psychological assessment in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 229 consecutive patients with CLBP who attended an outpatient rehabilitation center were assessed by psychologists and physical therapists before their treatment started. The signs and symptoms assessed by the physical therapists were compared with the assessments made by the psychologists, which were considered to be the reference standard (relevant psychological disturbances, yes or no).

The reliability of nonorganic sign-testing and the Waddell score in patients with chronic low back pain.

Study Design: An observational prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine the reliability of nonorganic sign-testing in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), and to identify determinants of diagnostic disagreement.

Summary Of Background Data: For the assessment of behavioral responses to examination, Waddell et al published "the Waddell score" in 1980.