Validation of the functional rating index for the assessment of athletes with neck pain.

AIM: To validate the culturally-adapted Persian Functional Rating Index (PFRI) for assessing neck pain (NP) in athletes. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 100 athletes with NP and 50 healthy athletes participated and responded to the PFRI. Fifty athletes with NP completed the PFRI for at least 7 d later to establish test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The athletes with NP responded to all items, indicating excellent clinical utility. No floor and ceiling effects were found, indicating content validity and responsiveness. The PFRI revealed capability to discriminate between the athletes with NP and healthy athletes. The PFRI demonstrated strong correlation with the Numerical Rating Scale (Spearman's rho = 0.94), and the Persian Neck Disability Index (Pearson r = 0.995), supporting criterion and construct validity. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's α coefficient: 0.97). The test-retest reliability was excellent (ICCagreement = 0.96). The absolute reliability values of standard error of measurement and smallest detectable change were 3.2 and 8.84, respectively. An exploratory factor analysis yielded one factor explaining 78.03% of the total variance. CONCLUSION: The PFRI is a valid and reliable measure of functional status in athletes with NP.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport scale to Persian language.

The aim of the present study was to develop and provide validation statistics for the Persian Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport scale (I-PRRS) following a cross-sectional and prospective cohort study design. The I-PRRS was forward/back-translated and culturally adapted into Persian language. The Persian I-PRRS was administered to 100 injured athletes (93 male; age 26.0 ± 5.6 years; time since injury 4.84 ± 6.4 months) and 50 healthy athletes (36 male; mean age 25.7 ± 6.0 years). The Persian I-PRRS was re-administered to 50 injured athletes at 1 week to examine test-retest reliability. There were no floor or ceiling effects confirming the content validity of Persian I-PRRS. The internal consistency reliability was good. Excellent test-retest reliability and agreement were demonstrated. The statistically significant difference in Persian I-PRRS total scores between the injured athletes and healthy athletes provides an evidence of discriminative validity. The Persian I-PRRS total scores were positively correlated with the Farsi Mood Scale (FARMS) total scores, showing construct validity. The principal component analysis indicated a two-factor solution consisting of "Confidence to play" and "Confidence in the injured body part and skill level". The Persian I-PRRS showed excellent reliability and validity and can be used to assess injured athletes' psychological readiness to return to sport among Persian-speaking populations.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Micheli Functional Scale to Persian Language for Evaluation of Low Back Pain in the Young Athletes.

BACKGROUND: A clinical outcome tool is needed for the assessment of young athletes with low back pain. OBJECTIVES: To translate and culturally adapt the Micheli functional scale (MFS), a self-report questionnaire developed to evaluate young athletes with low back pain (LBP) into Persian language and examine the reliability and validity of the Persian MFS (PMFS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the PMFS. The PMFS was cross-culturally adapted into Persian language adopting forward/backward translation, expert panel review, and pre-testing. The PMFS was administered to young athletes with and without LBP. Main outcome measures were Persian MFS, Persian functional rating Index (PFRI), and visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: A sample of 100 young athletes with LBP with a mean age of 16.5 ± 2.5 years participated. Fifty young athletes without LBP completed the PMFS. There was no missing responses and floor or ceiling effects. There was a significant difference for the total PMFS scores between young athletes with and without LBP. A significant correlation was found between the total PMFS score and the VAS (r = 0.92) or the PFRI (r = 0.82; P < 0.001). A high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach α = 0.73), and excellent test-retest reliability (ICCagreement = 0.99, P < 0.001) were demonstrated for the PMFS. Factor analysis indicated a single-factor model for PMFS scores. CONCLUSIONS: The Persian MFS is valid and reliable for use in Persian-speaking young athletes with LBP.

Effect of therapeutic infra-red in patients with non-specific low back pain: a pilot study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of infra-red (IR) in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (NSLBP). Ten patients with NSLBP (5 men and 5 women) and disease duration of 21.7 ± 11.50 months participated in this pilot study. Patients had a mean age of 36.40 ± 10.11 years (range = 25-55). Patients were treated with infra-red (IR) for 10 sessions, each for 15 min, 3 days per week, for a period of 4 weeks. Outcome measures were the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), the Functional Rating Index (FRI), the Modified-Modified Schober Test (MMST), and the Biering-Sorensen test to assess pain severity, disability, lumbar flexion and extension range of motion (ROM), and back extensor endurance, respectively. Data were collected at: baseline - study entry (T0); end of 5th treatment session after 2 weeks (T1); and end of the treatment after 4 weeks (T2). The results of the ANOVA demonstrated a statistically significant main effect of IR on all outcomes of pain, function, lumbar flexion-extension ROM, and back extensor endurance. The treatment effect sizes ranged from large to small. IR was effective in improving pain, function, lumbar ROM, and back extensor endurance in a sample of patients with NSLBP. Treatment effect sizes ranged from large to small indicating clinically relevant improvements primarily in pain and function for patients with NSLBP.