The Persian Version of Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire: Translation and Evaluation of its Psychometric Properties

Abstract

Background: Screening of psychosocial risk factors for chronic low back pain (LBP) is essential. The Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire (ÖMPSQ) is one of the most recognized and widely used instruments for this purpose. This study aimed to translate the ÖMPSQ into Persian, to adapt it for Iranian culture, and to investigate its psychometric properties.

Methods: Using a linguistic methodology, the ÖMPSQ was translated into Persian according to the World Health Organization guideline. A total of 106 patients with LBP participated in the study. Internal consistency and test‑retest reliability were evaluated. Concurrent validity was estimated
with Pearson’s correlation between the ÖMPSQ and short form health survey (SF‑12), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and visual analog scale (VAS). Factor analysis was used
to evaluate dimensionality.

Results: The content validity index was 0.80. The instrument had a good test‑retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.82) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s α =0.82). Factor analysis indicates that factorial structure of Persian version was similar to original questionnaire. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.252–0.639, P < 0.01) between VAS score and all the ÖMPSQ domains. Physical component summary of SF‑12 was positively correlated with miscellaneous domain (r = 384, P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with psychology domain of ÖMPSQ (r = −0.364, P < 0.05). A significant correlation between total score and anxiety component of HADS and psychology domain of ÖMPSQ was found (r = 0.49, P < 0.01 and r = 0.442, P < 0.05, respectively). Correlations between the ÖMPSQ
and SF‑12 and HADS and VAS indicate acceptable concurrent validity.

Conclusions: The Persian version of ÖMPSQ was as a valid and reliable instrument and also a good cross‑cultural equivalent for original English version.

Keywords: Linguistic validation, low back pain, Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire, psychometric properties