MSc Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / The use of reliable and valid outcome measures in clinical research as well as clinical practice is very important. Self reported questionnaires are widely used as outcome measures to assess the subjective perception of disability caused by low back pain (LBP). The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), Quebec Disability Scale (QDS) and Waddell Disability Index (WDI) have been identified as reliable and valid instruments for assessing disability caused by LPB in English speaking patients. The three questionnaires were translated, back-translated and tested in a final version for use with Tswana speaking subjects. The questionnaires were tested on one hundred respondents, who met the inclusion criteria, at five hospitals in Tswana speaking areas. Of the one hundred respondents 31 were retested 24 hours later. No significant floor or ceiling effects were found for all three questionnaires. There was moderate correlation between the RMDQ, WDI and the DRI (0.74 and 0.63, respectively). The correlation between the QDS and the Disability Rating Index (DRI) was strong (0.85). The RMDQ, QDS and WDI correlated moderately with the VAS (pain) (0.63, 0.68 and 0.74, respectively). The RMDQ, QDS and WDI appeared to be internally consistent scales with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.92, 0.95 and 0.75, respectively. The RMDQ, QDS and WDI showed excellent test-retest reliability with intra-class correlation coefficient values of 0.93, 0.91 and 0.84, respectively. The results suggest that the Tswana versions of the RMDQ, QDS and WDI validated in this study are easy to understand, valid and reliable instruments for the measurement of functional disability caused by LBP in a Tswana speaking population. Therefore, these translated instruments may be useful clinical methods for collecting standardised data on activity limitations resulting from LBP in a Tswana speaking population.