Waddle disability index

Description and characteristics

Waddel and main (1984) constructed a simple nine item scale to assess “ basic physical activities

of daily living commonly restricted by low back pain by choosing activities that had been

identified in previous literature and by “ pilot interviews”. The scale was originally intended to

be physician administered in a clinical setting (waddell et al., 1982, but can be self administered

(delitto, 1994). The waddell disability index appears on the following page and the questionnaire

characteristics are summarized in table 2.15.

Althought there have been no reports of levels of missing data, one item relates to sexual activity

and it is likely that some people will not complete this item if it is perceived as irrelevant or

intrusive. Overall, the missing data for such a simple scale is unlikely to exceed the criterion

level of 5%. One study (main, wood, hollis, spanswick and waddell, 1992)

Reported on waddell disability index score for two large sample drawn from departments of

ortopaedic surgery and pain clinics in the U.K. scores ranged from 0 to 9, with mean scores of 3

and 4. Floor and ceiling effects in the waddell index have not been reported, but as the

distribution of scores appears normal, unacceptable floor and ceiling effects are unlikely.

Responsivness

Evidence for the responsiveness of the waddell disability index is limited to two studies reporting

change in scors over time. The mean score for patients with a successful outcome following

surgical or conservative intervention changed from 8 to 1.5, while who did not have a successful

outcome changed from 6.5 to 6 (waddell and main, 1984). Another study reported significant
improvement in scores of 185 patients 2 years after surgery for low back problems (waddell,

morris, di paola, bircher and Finlayson, 1986)

SF- 36 Heath Survey .

Description and chracteristics

The SF- 36 health survey is a multidimensional measure of health status that was “design for use in

clinical practice and research, health policy evaluations, and general population surveys (ware &

sherbourne 1992 p 73). The sf-36 is a short form of the battery of questionnaires used in the rand health

incurance experiment in the