Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Thai version of the modified STarT Back Screening Tool in individuals with neck pain.

Background: The modified STarT Back Screening Tool (mSBST) can be used to classify individuals with neck pain (NP) into low, medium, and high risk for chronicity. However, the mSBST-Thai version (mSBST-TH) for NP does not exist.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to adapt the SBST-TH into the mSBST-TH and evaluate its psychometric properties.

Methods: The adaptation process committee included one researcher, one musculoskeletal physical therapist, and one Thai linguistic expert. A total of 261 participants (aged 20-70 years) with NP in Phitsanulok Province were invited to complete the mSBST-TH, visual analogue scale, neck disability index, fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FABQ), pain catastrophizing scale, EuroQol five-dimensions five-levels questionnaire (EQ5D-5L), and EQ5D-5L-visual analogue scale (EQ5D-5L-VAS). Fifty participants completed the mSBST-TH twice, with an interval of 48 hours to perform test-retest reliability.

Results: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the mSBST-TH total score was 0.73. Factor analysis revealed two components, psychosocial and physical. The intraclass correlation coefficient of test-retest reliability was found to be 0.81 for the total score. Moderate correlations were found between the mSBST-TH and all questionnaires, except for the FABQ-work. The discriminative validity was excellent between the mSBST-TH total score and the EQ5D-5L-VAS. The standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change of the mSBST-TH total score were 0.56 and 1.56, respectively. No significant floor and ceiling effects were found.

Conclusion: The mSBST-TH was successfully adapted with no ambiguity reported. Furthermore, the mSBST-TH has presented acceptable psychometric evaluation.