STarT Back Screening Tool
Clinical intent
The STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) (9-item version) is a brief validated tool, designed to screen primary care patients with low back pain for prognostic indicators that are relevant to initial decision making [1,2].
Calculation
The SBST calculation in Awell yields 3 results:
- Total score
- Subscale score
- Risk classification (low, medium or high)
Total score
Total score is produced by summing positive items (items 1–9).
Subscale score
The psychosocial subscale score is a sum of bothersomeness, fear, catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression items (items 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9).
Risk classification
The SBST produces two scores: total score and distress (psychosocial) subscale. These are used to stratify patients into low, medium and high risk groups which have their respective matched treatment packages.
Risk classification can be done by following this algorithm.
Clinical interpretation
| Scores | Result | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Total score | Score on /9 | A higher score means more complaints |
| Psychosocial subscale score | Score on /5 | A higher score means more complaints |
| Risk classification | 1, 2 or 3 | 1 = Low risk; 2 = Medium risk; 3 = High risk; |
Pathway
Form preview
Interactive preview of the questionnaire. Not for clinical use. Responses are not stored.