The validity of reported musculoskeletal problems.: A study of questionnaire answers in relation to diagnosed disorders and perception of pain

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the validity of answers given in a questionnaire on musculoskeletal pain and conditions by means of a clinical assessment, and to get some understanding of the subject's perception of reported pain. This was performed by using measures of sensitivity and specificity comparing data from the questionnaire with the clinical diagnoses of conditions in the neck, shoulders and thoracic spine. Subjective perception of pain was obtained by the use of visual analogue scale (VAS) and pain drawings. For the combination of neck and shoulders, both sensitivity (95%) and specificity (88%) were high for current pain. The results of the study confirm the validity of the subjective reports of the respondents. A 'pain assessment instrument' including a questionnaire, VAS and pain drawings may be useful to reveal conditions in the neck and shoulders and thoracic spine, common sites of work related musculoskeletal disorders. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.