Study design: Evaluation of the psychometric properties of a translated and culturally adapted questionnaire.
Objective: Translating, culturally adapting, and validating the Italian version of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK-I) to allow its use for Italian-speaking patients with low back pain.
Summary of background data: Increasing attention is being given to standardized outcome measures as a means of improving interventions for low back pain. A translated form of the TSK in patients with low back pain has never been validated in the Italian population.
Methods: The development of the TSK-I questionnaire involved its translation and back-translation, a final review by an expert committee, and testing of the prefinal version to establish its correspondence to the original English version. Psychometric testing included factor analysis, reliability by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest repeatability (Intraclass Coefficient Correlation), discriminant validity (Pearson correlation) by comparing TSK-I to a visual analogue scale, the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, Beck's Depression Inventory and Anxiety Inventory.
Results: It took the authors 5 months to achieve a shared version of the TSK-I, which proved to be satisfactorily acceptable when administered to 178 subjects. Factor analysis indicated a 2-factor 13-item solution (38% of explained variance). The questionnaire showed acceptable internal consistency (alpha = 0.772) and high test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.956). Discriminant validity showed moderate to low correlations with visual analogue scale (r = 0.345), the Roland Morris Disability (r = 0.337), and Beck's Depression Inventory and Anxiety Inventory (r = 0.258 and r = 283). The subscales were also psychometrically analyzed.
Conclusion: The TSK was successfully translated into Italian, showing a good factorial structure and psychometric properties, and replicating the results of existing English versions of the questionnaire. Its use is recommended for research purposes.