testing a new 10item scale pinds lbp test for prediction of sick leave lasting more than three days or more than two weeks after a general practitioner visit for acute low back pain study design a study on acute low back pain lbp in consecutive working patients in a multicenter study in general practiceobjective lbp costs are enormous in all countries new guidelines are difficult to introduce on the basis of a new specially developed lbp scale the aims were to predict the duration of sick leave sl and to examine if the guidelines concerning bed rest br and referral to radiographical examination were followedsummary of background data pain intensity and heavy work influence the course of sl a fingertofloor distance test assesses the mobility of the spine and both the fingertofloor distance test and the straight leg raising test slrt can be used to predict the course of lbp br or waiting time for treatment or referral will prolong sl the expectations of patients and general practitioners are strong outcome predictors as is information about the prognosismethods a userfriendly 10item questionnaire was specifically developed the scale included the background date from a predefined scale the patients were subgrouped into 3 categories in relation to sl 1 no sl or a few days of sl 2 1 week of sl and 3 more than 2 weeks of sl the fisher exact test was used to compare categorical variablesresults twentythree doctors examined 207 working patients a total of 114 patients 56 completed the followup questionnaire the 10item scale showed a good correlation between the total score at the first general practitioner visit and predictable time of sl according to the 3 periodsthe frequency of br and referral to radiographical examination was low and perhaps this was a consequence of using the scaleconclusion the specially developed short and userfriendly 10item lbp scale was a good predictor of the duration of sl a low rate of br and radiographical examination may even be the result of using the scalelevel of evidence na