published so far in the literature on the use of DAS in Italian patients. 35 , 36 However, the paper deals with adolescents only, while the Italian translation of the test they used has not been published. As far as studies from other countries are concerned, the largest series available in the literature deal with normal subjects, such as university students and soldiers, while most studies on patients include a smaller number of cases: it is to be considered that patients who are going to be operated on might be more anxious and, thus, have a higher DAS score than the