Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) Tested Out on Chronic Pain Patients

About 10 years ago, the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) was developed and validated. It is a scale used to measure fear of movement or reinjury in chronic pain patients. Since that time, the scale was translated into Dutch. Most of the research has been done using the Dutch version.

In this study, researchers from Canada used the English version of the TSK with a group of 200 chronic back pain patients. Everyone in the study had back pain from a work-related or motor-vehicle accident. The 17-item TSK survey was filled out by each person.

The patients retook the survey after a nine-week program of supervised exercise and a five-week counseling program. Analysis of the data told the researchers:

  • It was okay to combine patients with workplace and motor-vehicle accidents together in one chronic pain group; the difference in injury type did not affect the survey results.
  • All 17-items in the survey are valid; there’s no need to get rid of four questions that are asked from a negative point of view.
  • The TSK measures physical and work activity and gives similar results to a survey called the Fear Avoidance Behavior Questionnaire (FABQ).
  • Higher levels of kinesiophobia are linked with depression and anxiety.
  • The before and after results for the TSK showed that treatment results in
    improved mood and decreased disability.

    And finally, the authors report that this study showed that the original English version of the TSK is a good measure of fear-avoidance behavior. The Dutch version leaves out the four negatively phrased questions. Future studies can include the positive and the negatively posed questions without compromising the results.