ARTICLE Portuguese Language Version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia [13 Items] Nuno Cordeiro 1 , Pedro Pezarat-Correia 1 , João Gil 2 and Jan Cabri 3 1 Faculty of Human Kinetics, Center for Research in Physiotherapy, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal, 2 Faculty of Economics, Centre for Health Studies and Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, 3 Department Physical Performance, The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway A Objectives: The aim of this study was to translate and adapt the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia to the Portuguese language and culture [TSK-PT], and validate its use in Portuguese patients with chronic low back pain [CLBP]. Methods: The procedures were performed following published international guidelines. Patients with CLBP were recruited to complete the TSK-PT and visual analog scales [VAS] for pain and for confidence in low back movement. A portion of the same patients also completed a second TSK-PT questionnaire after a seven-day interval to establish test-retest reliability. After three months, all of the original patients completed the questionnaire again to assess its respon- siveness using standardized effect size and standardized response mean. Results: At baseline, 166 patients with chronic LBP completed the series of questionnaire instruments. After an interval of seven days, forty one patients again completed the series of instruments. Three months after baseline, all 166 patients again completed the questionnaire series. The Cronbach alpha of 0.82 indicated good internal consistency of the TSK- PT total score, and the one-week intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.99 indicated exceptional test-retest reliability. A three-factor solution could be found on factorial analysis. There were significant correlations between the TSK-PT total score and both VAS Pain and VAS Confidence scores. The standardized effect size of the TSK-PT was 0.50 and the standardized response mean was 0.67. Conclusions: The TSK-PT has proven to be a valid and reliable tool in the assessment of kinesiophobia in patients with CLBP. K: Kinesiophobia, pain, fear of movement INTRODUCTION Self-reporting measures are very common instru- ments for exploring different impacts of impairments in bodily functions. Kinesiophobia is defined as an excessive and debilitating fear of physical movement and activity, resulting from a feeling of vulnerability to painful injury or reinjury (1). It is a type of impair- ment that simultaneously affects neurobiological and psychological pain factors, as well as all components of movement confidence (2). The fear of movement is an important factor in increasing painful symptoms associated with chronic low back pain [CLBP]. Avoid- ing movement maintains incorrect posture, exagger- ates tension, and extends the impairment (3). The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia [TSK] (4) was specifi- cally developed for the assessment of kinesiophobia (1) and collects information on the degree of comfort, security, and preparation for movement. The original English version of the TSK is a set of 17 questions, using a four-point Likert scale, assessing the subjective perception of the subjects related to their security and confidence to perform movements. The sum of the scores obtained on each issue will typically range between 17 and 68, where higher scores represent greater levels of perceived fear. Short versions of the TSK, such as the TSK-13 or TSK-11 items, are also used (5). It has been postulated that the use of the TSK without the four inverse items Address correspondence to: Nuno Cordeiro, Faculty of Human Kinetics, Center for Research in Physiotherapy, Technical Univer- sity of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal. [E-mail: ncordeiro@ipcb.pt] Submitted: September 01, 2011; Revisions Accepted: April 25, 2012 Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, Vol. 21(1), 2013 © 2013 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. ISSN: 1058-2452 print / 1540-7012 online DOI: 10.3109/10582452.2012.762966  J Muscoskeletal Pain Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by 85.138.99.67 on 04/29/13 For personal use only.