Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ)
Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ)
The Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) is a widely used questionnaire focused on pain-related anxiety in patients with low back pain. The FABQ can be used to determine the extent to which chronic low back pain is affected by the components of physical activity and work.
There are two subscales in the FABQ. The Physical Activity Subscale (FABQpa) is the first subscale (items 1–5), while the Work Subscale (items 6–16) is the second subscale (FABQw).
Validity and Reliability
For the measurement of fear avoidance beliefs, the FABQ and the two subscales have been found to be valid and reliable. For the FABQpa, Cronbach’s alpha was 0.75 (test-retest reliability, r=0.64). Cronbach’s alpha for the FABQw was 0.82 (test-retest r=0.80).
The Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia and the FABQ were correlated to varying degrees, ranging from 0.53 (FABQpa) and 0.76 (FABQw) to 0.39 (FABQpa) and 0.33 (FABQw).
Scoring and Interpretation
The FABQ consists of a total of 16 items which are rated on a 7-point likert scale (0-6) where 0 = completely disagree and 6 = completely agree.
There are two subscales in the FABQ. The Physical Activity Subscale (FABQpa) is the first subscale (items 1–5), while the Work Subscale (items 6–16) is the second subscale (FABQw).
Scoring of the FABQ subscales:
- Sum items 2, 3, 4, and 5 to score the Physical Activity subscale (FABQpa)
- Sum the items 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15 when scoring the Work subscale (FABQw)
Higher scores indicate a higher degree of fear-avoidance beliefs.
FABQ PDF Download
FABQ Online Calculator
References
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