Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Nursing Low Back Pain Predictor Questionnaire Focusing on Nurses Suffering from Chronic Low Back Pain in Iran

STUDY DESIGN Development and psychometric evaluation. PURPOSE Design and psychometric assessment of the Nursing Low Back Pain Predictor Questionnaire addressing nurses suffering from chronic low back pain in Iran. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE Low back pain is the most prevalent behavior-related health problem among nurses, and it needs to be assessed through a validated multi-factorial questionnaire, using the premises of the social cognitive theory. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Tehran, Iran from April 17, 2014 to July 16, 2014. A 50-item questionnaire based on the social cognitive theory was generated. The questionnaire was distributed among 500 nurses working in hospitals located in different geographically areas in Tehran. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factors and their related items. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess reliability. RESULTS The exploratory factor analysis loaded six factors, named observational learning, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and self-efficacy in overcoming impediments in the working environment and emotional coping. All factors were jointly accounted for 67.12% of behavior change variance. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed excellent internal consistency (alpha=0.91). Test and retest analysis with 2-week intervals indicated an appropriate stability for the questionnaire (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.94). CONCLUSIONS According the results, the developed questionnaire is a reliable and validated theory-based instrument, which can be used to predict the work, related factors for low back pain among nurses.