Objective: To assess the knowledge of patients about low back pain and spinal disorders.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from December 2015 to February 2016, and comprised patients presenting with lower back pain. The low back pain knowledge questionnaire was translated to Arabic and distributed, after adding more questions, among patients. The scores were calculated as per the published guidelines. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis.
Results: There were 153 patients in the study. The reliability test revealed a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.834 for all items. The overall mean age was 40.2±19.3 years (range: 15-76 years). Besides, 61(39.9%) participants were males and 92(60.1%) were females. The overall median score was 9 (interquartile range: 0-19) out of 24 points. Both educational level and monthly income were found to be dependent variables (p<0.001; p=0.007). .
Conclusions: The majority of patients with lower back pain had limited knowledge about their condition and the related complications.
Keywords: Spine, Knowledge, Questionnaire, Low back pain..