Evaluating sensory profiles in nociplastic chronic low back pain

BACKGROUND: Sensory profiles (SPs) may be useful in classifying patients based on sensory sensitivity and behavioral responses to stimuli to develop personalized treatments for nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP). The Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) identifies four sensitivity and behavioral response-related quadrants: Sensory Sensitive, Sensation Avoiding, Low Registration, and Sensation Seeking. It is an appropriate questionnaire for evaluating SPs; however, it has not been validated in CLBP.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, agreement, and construct validity of the AASP in a CLBP population with nociplastic pain in primary care physiotherapy.

DESIGN: Two evaluations were performed at a 2-week interval in this non-experimental cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS: Patients with CLBP.

METHODS: Questionnaires were used to compare outcomes with the AASP. Reliability was evaluated by assessing internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was evaluated in response to the a priori hypothesis.

RESULTS: Ninety patients with CLBP were included. Internal consistency was excellent for all SPs (Cronbach's alpha, 0.91-0.92). Test-retest reliability Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC (3,2)) 0.82-0.87, for the SPs (95% CI 0.74-0.91, p< .001). Construct validity correlated positively with Low Registration, Sensory Sensitive, and Sensation Avoiding and negatively with Sensation Seeking.

CONCLUSION: The AASP is suitable for evaluating SPs in primary care CLBP patients.