Pain, Clinical Tests, and Disability in Individuals With Radicular Low Back Pain: A Responsiveness and Correlation Study

Background: This study aimed to investigate the responsiveness of pain, clinical tests, and disability in individuals with RLBP. Methods: Thirty-two patients with RLBP were assessed for pain intensity (at rest and at worst), clinical tests comprising straight leg raising (SLR) and five-meter walk test (5MWT), and disability was assessed by the Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI) at baseline, immediately after, 1 week, and 2 weeks after first-session interventions. Change scores and effect size (ES) were calculated. Results: Pain at rest and pain at worst were most responsive with large ES, especially at 2 weeks (ES = 3.6 and 3.6, respectively). SLR and 5MWT were responsive with large ES at 2 weeks (ES = 0.9 and 0.9, respectively). Also, MODI was responsive at 2 weeks (ES = 1.0). Conclusions: This study indicated that the responsiveness of pain intensity (at rest and at worst), SLR, 5MWT, and MODI in patients with RLBP at 2 weeks after therapeutic interventions was evident.