Pilot Assessment of Pain of Orthopaedic Patients in Hong Kong

This pilot study examined the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the Chinese version of the Acute Lower Back Pain Screening Questionnaire. A sample of 45 acute low back pain patients (27 men and 18 women; mean age = 47.8) were recruited from the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of the Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong. Three items of the original questionnaire were excluded from the analyses because response was low by 30 of the 45 patients. The questionnaire showed good internal reliability (Cronbach α =.88) and correlated significantly with other test scores: the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (α =.74), the Chinese (Hong Kong) SF-12 Health Survey (Mental subscale, α = −.47; Physical subscale α = −.62), and the Chinese Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Anxiety subscale, α = .42; Depression subscale, α −.43). The questionnaire could be used in research and clinical work to provide data on the multicomponents of a pain experience as well as psychosocial risk factors related to pain among the Chinese. Researchers might examine the course of change in chronic pain.