Physical therapy
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The purposes of this study were to develop screening tests for four low back pain (LBP) diagnoses based on patient reports concerning the severity of pain in various positions and during activities and then to examine the accuracy of these tests in assigning subjects to one of four LBP diagnostic categories. The accuracy of screening tests is determined by calculating sensitivity and specificity and is well established in epidemiology. ⋯ Although more than half of the subjects with a particular LBP diagnosis tested positive for that diagnosis, approximately two thirds of the subjects who tested positive for each of the diagnoses actually had another diagnosis. Negative tests may be more useful in that between 77% and 94% of the subjects without the diagnosis tested negative. Although patient reports of LBP response to position and activity are not sufficient for diagnosis, they may be useful in ruling out a particular diagnosis.