FABQ
Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ)
The FABQ is a self-report questionnaire used to identify and quantify fear-avoidance beliefs, mainly in people with low back pain or musculoskeletal pain. It explores the belief that physical activity and work could worsen pain or injury, which promotes avoidance, functional limitation, disability, and sometimes the persistence of chronic pain. The tool is particularly useful in pain psychology, rehabilitation, and the assessment of psychosocial risk factors known as “yellow flags,” especially for estimating the risk of chronicity, disability, and difficulties returning to work.
- Number of questions
- 16 questions
- Estimated duration
- 5 minutes
- Language
- English
- Original name
- Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire
- Target audience
- Adults with low back pain
- Authors
- Gordon Waddell, M. Newton, I. Henderson, D. Somerville, C. J. Main (1993)
Scoring & interpretation
Each item is scored from 0 to 6, from “completely disagree” to “completely agree.” Standard scoring mainly relies on two subscales: physical activity (items 2, 3, 4, and 5; score 0 to 24) and work (items 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15; score 0 to 42). Items 1, 8, 13, 14, and 16 are not included in the standard score. Higher scores reflect stronger avoidance beliefs, associated with an increased risk of disability, functional limitation, and difficulties resuming activity or work.
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