Our friends at Curtin University continue to work and improve how we assess and treat people with low back pain. Whether you’re a clinician interested in assessing body perception, a researcher keen on the latest measurement tools, or someone living with chronic low back pain, this one’s for you.
Refining the Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire 2 (FreBAQ-2): A Step Forward for Chronic Low Back Pain Research
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) affects millions of people worldwide, yet understanding and treating it remains a complex challenge. One key factor that has emerged in recent years is body perception—how people with CLBP experience and relate to their own backs. The Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire (FreBAQ) was developed in 2014 to measure back-specific body perception in individuals with CLBP. Since then, it has been widely used in both research and clinical settings, translated across multiple languages, and analysed to assess its measurement properties.
Despite its widespread use, research and clinical feedback have highlighted areas where the original FreBAQ could be improved. Our team has developed a revised version—the FreBAQ-2—to address these limitations, incorporating insights from both experts and individuals living with CLBP. The goal of our current study is to rigorously test the psychometric properties of the FreBAQ-2 to ensure it is a valid and reliable tool for use in research and clinical practice.
Why Is This Study Important?
People with CLBP often report a distorted sense of their back—describing sensations of swelling, misalignment, or even difficulty identifying their back as part of their own body. These altered perceptions can impact movement, pain experiences, and recovery. The FreBAQ-2 is designed to measure these changes more effectively, helping researchers and clinicians better understand how body perception contributes to pain and disability.
By improving the accuracy and reliability of this tool, we can refine interventions that target altered body perception, such as sensorimotor retraining and cognitive-based therapies. A more precise measure of back awareness will also enhance our ability to track changes over time, whether in response to treatment or as part of the natural course of CNSLBP.
What Does the Study Involve?
To ensure the FreBAQ-2 meets psychometric standards, we are recruiting 200 individuals with CLBP.
Participants will complete a series of questionnaires, including:
- Basic pain information (such as pain intensity, distribution, and medication use)
- Widely used pain-related questionnaires
- The FreBAQ-2 itself, along with questions about its comprehensiveness, relevance, and time burden
One week later, participants will complete the FreBAQ-2 again to assess test-retest reliability.
What’s Next?
With a refined and validated FreBAQ-2, we hope to provide researchers and clinicians with a powerful tool for understanding body perception disturbances in CLBP. By addressing the limitations of the original FreBAQ, this updated version has the potential to improve both assessment and treatment strategies for those living with chronic back pain.
If you or someone you know has CLBP and is interested in participating, we would love to hear from you. Your contribution will help advance research and improve outcomes for people experiencing chronic back pain.
For more information about our study or to participate: https://curtin.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6fD2BrMBoU4YyRE.
The study will be conducted by Judith Paredes Sanchez as part of a higher educational qualification (PhD), together with Flavia Di Pietro, Benedict Wand, and Beatriz Ito Ramos De Oliveira.
Please contact Judith Paredes on judith.paredes-@postgrad.curtin.edu.au if you have any issues accessing the survey.
Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) has approved this study (HRE2024-0596)
– Noigroup team
PS. By the way folks, have you seen the Resolve Back Pain Handbook released last year? By legends of the field: Lorimer Moseley, David Butler, Hayley Leake, Benedict Wand and James McAuley.
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