RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Early screening of physical and psychosocial risk factors has been advocated as a way to identify low back pain (LBP) patients who may develop chronic disability. This study evaluated the predictive validity of a Chinese version of the Orebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire (OMPQ) in identifying LBP patients at risk of developing poor return-to-work (RTW) outcomes. METHODS: Altogether 241 patients with acute or subacute non-specific LBP agreed to participate, and they were screened at baseline with OMPQ, and evaluated after discharge from physiotherapy (n = 173) with outcome measures including the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), numerical pain score (0-10) and global recovery (0-10). At 1-year follow-up, information on RTW status as well as sick leave duration were obtained. RESULTS: At baseline the OMPQ had a mean score of 112.0 (SD = 26.5). The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves of OMPQ scores at 1-year follow-up recorded values of area under the curve of 0.693 for RTW and 0.714 for sick leave duration, which are comparable to those reported in European studies. OMPQ was the only factor that could significantly predict the RTW outcomes, compared to other variables such as the RMDQ scores. CONCLUSION: The results confirmed the predictive validity of the Chinese version of OMPQ in screening LBP patients at risk of developing poor occupational outcomes, and appropriate interventions can be arranged for these high-risk individuals in the rehabilitation process.