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Linking the Bournemouth Questionnaire for low back pain to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Abstract Purpose: Understanding the content of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaires can facilitate comparison and selection of the most appropriate tool in the assessment of patients with low back pain. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), as part of the WHO-FIC, can be used as a standardised method for mapping and comparing HRQOL questionnaire content. The purpose of this study was to link the Bournemouth Questionnaire (BQ) to the ICF in order to assess and compare the content of the BQ to the brief ICF core sets for low back pain. Methods: The BQ was linked to the ICF following the rules described by Cieza and Stuki. Following the linking process, the results were further linked to the brief ICF core sets for low back pain. Results: The BQ covered 21 ICF categories within the domains of body functions and activities and participation. Only five meaningful concepts could not be linked to the ICF. The brief core sets for low back pain contain 35 categories, identified as important concepts in back pain patients. The BQ covered 10 of the categories of the brief core sets. Conclusion: HRQOL tools provide valuable information about the health status of patients. Content comparison based on ICF provides relevant information about the concepts covered and enables selection of the appropriate clinical tools. The BQ is easy to administer and is linked to a number of important concepts contained within the ICF and to concepts considered to be important in the assessment of patients with LBP. Implications for Rehabilitation Selecting appropriate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) tools can prove difficult, with such a variety of them available, and each with varying content. ICF provides a standardised framework for the content assessment of HRQOL tools. Understanding the content of HRQOL tools can facilitate better tool selection and assist in the accurate assessment of patients with low back pain.