Start Back Screening Tool flow

Introduction

The STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) (9-item version) is a brief validated tool, designed to screen primary care patients with low back pain for prognostic indicators that are relevant to initial decision making [1,2].

The Start Back Screening Tool flow contains the Start Back Screening Tool questionnaire and associated calculation. After form submission, the Start Back Screening Tool calculation is executed automatically. It's easy to extend this flow with conditional logic based on the interpretation of the Start Back Screening Tool calculation.

Start Back Screening Tool questionnaire

Questions

The SBST has 9 questions:

1. ‍‍My back pain has spread down my leg(s) at some time in the last 2 weeks
2. I have had pain in the shoulder or neck at some time in the last 2 weeks
3. I have only walked short distances because of my back pain
4. In the last 2 weeks, I have dressed more slowly than usual because of back pain
5. It’s not really safe for a person with a condition like mine to be physically active
6. Worrying thoughts have been going through my mind a lot of the time
7. I feel that my back pain is terrible and it’s never going to get any better
8. In general I have not enjoyed all the things I used to enjoy
9. Overall, how bothersome has your back pain been in the last 2 weeks?

Each question can be answered with "Disagree" (score = 0) or "Agree" (score = 1).

Click here for English version of the SBST.
Click here for Dutch version of the SBST.

Interpretation

Scores Result Interpretation Total score
Score on /9 A higher score means more complaints Psychosocial subscale score
Score on /5 A higher score means more complaints Risk classification
1, 2 or 31 = Low risk; 2 = Medium risk; 3 = High risk;

Referencess

[1] Keele University. STarT Back Screening Tool Website. http://www.keele.ac.uk/sbst/ (accessed 23 July 2013).
[2] Hill JC, Dunn KM, Lewis M, Mullis R, Main CJ, Foster NE, Hay EM. A primary care back pain screening tool: identifying patient subgroups for initial treatment. Arthritis Rheum. 2008 May 15;59(5):632-41. doi: 10.1002/art.23563. PMID: 18438893.