Instrumentos para avaliação de capacidade funcional de pacientes com lombalgia: uma revisão bibliográfica

Abstract

Low back pain is manifested by pain that can occur in region the lumbar, sacral or lumbosacral. This dysfunction reveals a disability that restricts or limits an individual ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL’s), physical activity and labor. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides an understanding of all the health-disease experienced by an individual in the fields related to the structure and function of the body, activity and participation. In the latter two areas, the CIF has two qualifiers (Performance and Capacity) aimed at characterizing the functional state of the patient. Instruments for measuring functional capacity have been included in the evaluation protocols, by allowing the clinician to determine the level of maximum capacity of the patient. Moreover, these measures, simulate various ADL’s can be used to outline the objectives to be achieved with functional rehabilitation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a review of the functional tests used to assess the functional capacity of patients with low back pain, identifying measures to have adequate psychometric properties of reliability and validity for use in clinical practice. More functional tests described in the literature that address the functional capacity of patients with low back pain include: Test five minute walk, Flexion of the lumbar, Repeated Trunk Flexion, Fifty-Foot Walk, Repeated Sit to-Stand, Climb and descend a ladder for a minute, Loaded Reach, The Sorensen fatigue test, Timed lying to stand test, Timed Up-and-Go, Unloaded Reach. There is no consensus in the literature to indicate the best functional test for functional evaluation of patients with low back pain. However, most testing has established reliability and validity, as assessed in studies of the specific population of individuals with low back pain. However, when choosing the test to be applied, the physiotherapist should choose the most appropriate, taking into account the same psychometric properties and functional demands of each patient.