The Turkish minimum dataset for chronic low back pain research: a cross-cultural adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Task Force Research Standards.

BACKGROUND: The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has produced a minimal data set to promote more accurate and consistent reporting of clinical trials, facilitating easier comparison of research on low back pain patients worldwide. The NIH-minimal dataset has not been previously translated into Turkish, and its features are currently unknown. This study aimed to adapt the NIH-Minimal Data Set into Turkish and investigate its validity and reliability in Turkish-speaking patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

METHODS: In the study, 245 patients with CLBP were included. Test-retest and internal consistency analyzes were performed to evaluate the reliability of the NIH-minimal dataset. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1 ) value was used to assess test-retest analysis. Cronbach's alpha value was calculated for internal consistency. Total impact scores of the NIH-minimal dataset were compared with total scores of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) to assess construct validity. The minimal detectable change (MDC95 ) was calculated based on the standard error of measurement (SEM95 ).

RESULTS: The NIH-Minimal Data Set was found to have high test-retest reliability (ICC2,1 = 0.928) and high internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.905). The NIH-minimal dataset correlated well with RMDQ and ODI ( r  = 0.750 and 0.810, respectively). There were no floor or ceiling effects. Also, SEM95 and MDC95 for the total score were 4.57 and 12.55, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Considering all these data, it was concluded that the Turkish version of the NIH-minimal dataset is a valid and reliable outcome measure for evaluating patients with CLBP.