The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) developed a score for evaluating patients with low back pain syndrome. This can be used to evaluate the patient initially and to measure the effect of interventions.
Parameters:
(1) lower back pain (subjective symptom)
(2) leg pain and/or tingling (subjective symptom)
(3) sensory disturbances (clinical sign)
(4) motor disturbances (clinical sign)
Parameter
Finding
Points
lower back pain
none
3
occasional, slight
2
occasional, moderate to severe
1
continuous and severe
0
leg pain and/or tingling
none
3
occasional, slight
2
occasional, moderate to severe
1
continuous and severe
0
sensory disturbance
none
2
slight disturbance
1
moderate to marked disturbance
0
motor disturbance
none
2
slight disturbance
1
moderate to marked disturbance
0
total score =
= SUM(points for all 4 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 10
• The higher the score the less severe the syndrome.
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