Lower back pain appears a major problem worldwide, accounting for many days
of lost work, huge expense, and much suffering from the people affected by it. Incidence of it
appears high in the West, but, to date, no studies have determined its incidence in many nonWestern countries, including Libya. To help remedy this problem, and to help people with
LBP, one needs to measure it. However, this too is a problem. The major method of
measuring LBP is use of the Oswestry Disability Index. This was first produced in English,
but has now been translated into several other languages, including Tunisian Arabic and Saudi
Arabian Arabic. The problem concerns using such Arabic translations for people living in
Arab-speaking areas other than Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. Arabic has several dialects, and not
all are mutually intelligible. The present study seeks to validate the Tunisian Arabic version
of the ODI for Libyans living in the Zawia region of the country. Sixty participants were
recruited from patients receiving medical help for LBP in the region. They then had to
complete the Tunisian Arabic version of the ODI, and report whether they found it
intelligible. The participants were also given Arabic versions of the SF-36 and the PVAS.
Scores on these tests were used to validate the Tunisian version for Zawia Libyans. Results
suggested that the Tunisian version of the ODI is a valid measure for this particular Arab subpopulation.

Keywords: Low back pain, oswestry disability index, pain visual analog scale, short form-36