Low back pain: a psychiatric investigation

Summary Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire scores of a group of male patients attending a physiotherapy department for treatment of low back pain distinguished between those patients with a good and those with a poor out-outcome. Comparing the scores of these two groups with those of a normal male population suggests that there are two distinct populations of patients with low back pain. A questionnaire may have a place in the selection of patients who are unlikely to respond to conventional treatment for low back pain and who need extensive social or psychiatric investigation.