Initial Psychometric Properties of the Pain Care Quality Survey (PainCQ)

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Pain Care Quality (PainCQ) survey, a new instrument to measure the quality of nursing and interdisciplinary care related to pain management. Hospitalized medical/surgical oncology patients with pain from 3 states completed the 44-item version of the PainCQ survey following completion of a nursing shift. Interdisciplinary items were evaluated over the entire hospital stay; nursing care was evaluated during the previous shift. The sample included 109 patients ranging in age from 20 to 84 (mean = 53.09). The sample was 58.7% female, 88% non-Hispanic white. Principal Axis Factoring with an oblimin rotation was used as factors were correlated. Two scales resulted. The PainCQ-Interdisciplinary scale included 11 items representing 2 constructs and explaining 47.1% of shared item variance: partnership with the health care team (k = 6 items; α = .85) and comprehensive interdisciplinary pain care (k = 5 items; α = .76). The PainCQ-Nursing scale measured three constructs and explained 60.8 % of shared item variance: being treated right (k = 15 items; α = .95), comprehensive nursing pain care (k = 3 items; α = .77), and efficacy of pain management (k =4 items; α = .87). Results supported the internal consistency reliability and structural validity of the PainCQ survey with 33 items.     

Parent perceptions of adolescent pain expression: the adolescent pain behavior questionnaire

Pain behaviors provide meaningful information about adolescents in chronic pain, enhancing their verbal report of pain intensity with information about the global pain experience. Caregivers likely consider these expressions when making judgments about their adolescents’ medical or emotional needs. Current validated measures of pain behavior target acute or procedural pain and young or non-verbal children, while observation systems may be too cumbersome for clinical practice. The objective of this research was to design and evaluate the Adolescent Pain Behavior Questionnaire (APBQ), a parent-report measure of adolescent (11-19 years) pain expressions. This paper provides preliminary results on reliability and validity of the APBQ. Parent-adolescent dyads (N = 138) seen in a multidisciplinary pain management clinic completed the APBQ and questionnaires assessing pain characteristics, quality of life, functional disability, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing. Principal components analysis of the APBQ supported a single component structure. The final APBQ scale contained 23 items with high internal consistency (α = 0.93). No relationship was found between parent-reported pain behaviors and adolescent-reported pain intensity. However, significant correlations were found between parent-reported pain behaviors and parent- and adolescent-reported functional disability, pain catastrophizing, depressive symptoms, and poorer quality of life. The assessment of pain behaviors provides qualitatively different information than solely recording pain intensity and disability. It has clinical utility for use in behavioral treatments seeking to reduce disability, poor coping, and distress.     

Pain Acceptance, Hope, and Optimism: Relationships to Pain and Adjustment in Patients With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

There is growing interest in the role that positive aspects of psychological adjustment, such as pain acceptance, hope, and optimism, may play in explaining adjustment in persons suffering from persistent pain. This study conducted in obese patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain (N = 89) examined the degree to which pain acceptance and hope explained pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, psychological distress, and pain-related disability, after controlling for the effects of optimism. In correlational analyses, pain acceptance and optimism were associated with psychological distress and pain disability with hope being related to only psychological distress. Pain acceptance, optimism, and hope were not significantly associated with pain. Hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analyses found that pain acceptance remained a significant predictor of psychological distress and pain disability after controlling for optimism, demographic, and medical variables. HLR analyses found that hope was not a significant predictor of psychological distress after controlling for optimism, pain acceptance, and demographic and medical variables. The results of this study are important because they indicate that pain acceptance, hope, and optimism are all related to pain adjustment. They also highlight the importance of controlling for optimism when examining the effects of pain acceptance and hope on pain adjustment.

Perspective

In a sample of obese patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain, pain acceptance was a significant predictor of psychological distress and pain disability even after controlling for optimism, demographic, and medical variables. These results add to the growing literature on the importance of pain acceptance in understanding adjustment to persistent pain.     

Psychosocial subgroups in persons with spinal cord injuries and chronic pain

Widerström-Noga EG, Felix ER, Cruz-Almeida Y, Turk DC. Psychosocial subgroups in persons with spinal cord injuries and chronic pain.

Objectives

To define adaptational subgroups in people with chronic pain and spinal cord injury (SCI), and to compare these subgroups with respect to demographic factors, level of injury, functional independence, pain disability, depressed mood, social support, and life satisfaction.

Design

Interviews.

Setting

Veterans Affairs medical center and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

Participants

Persons with SCI and chronic pain (N=190).

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measure

The Multidimensional Pain Inventory, SCI version.

Results

Cluster analysis revealed 3 subgroups: (1) dysfunctional (34.6% of all participants), characterized by higher pain severity, life interference, and affective distress scores, and lower levels of life control and activities scores; (2) interpersonally supported (33.0% of participants), characterized by moderately high pain severity, and higher life control, support from significant others, distracting responses, solicitous responses, and activities scores; and (3) adaptive copers (32.4% of participants), characterized by lower pain severity, life interference, affective distress, support from significant others, distracting responses, solicitous responses, activities and higher life control scores. Compared with the dysfunctional subgroup, the interpersonally supported subgroup reported significantly greater social support and life satisfaction and less pain disability and emotional distress, despite moderately high pain severity.

Conclusion

Three subgroups, independent of sex, pain duration, and functional status, were identified. Although severe pain significantly decreases life satisfaction after SCI, its impact is moderated by perceived social support.     

Attempting to solve the problem of pain: a questionnaire study in acute and chronic pain patients

When faced with the problem of pain one can attempt a solution aimed at relief (assimilation) or a solution aimed at acceptance (accommodation). Using this dual process model of adaptation to pain, this study compares acute and chronic pain patients on their approach to problem solving. Three hundred and sixty-four patients were recruited from clinical settings, 303 with chronic pain and 61 with acute pain, and completed a range of measures of both affect and pain-related behavior, including the Pain Solutions Questionnaire. The effects of overall duration of pain were also investigated. Chronic pain patients reported greater disability and catastrophic thinking about pain than acute pain patients, and assimilative coping was associated with greater disability, greater attention to pain, and more catastrophic thinking about pain, beyond the effects of demographic variables and pain severity. Pain duration did not moderate these associations. Only in the case of catastrophic thinking about pain was it found that the effects of assimilative coping were moderated by pain duration. For chronic pain patients, catastrophic thinking about pain was greater when assimilative coping was higher. These results are discussed within the context of a goal directed motivational model of adaptation to chronic pain.     

Parental catastrophizing about their child's pain. The parent version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS-P): a preliminary validation

Numerous studies have found evidence for the role of catastrophizing about pain in adjustment to pain in both adults and children. However, the social context influencing pain and pain behaviour has been largely ignored. Especially in understanding the complexities of childhood pain, family processes may be of major importance. In line with the crucial role of pain catastrophizing in explaining adjustment and disability in adults and children, this study investigates the role of parental catastrophic thinking about their child's pain in explaining child disability and parental distress. To study parental catastrophizing, a parent version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS-P) was developed. An oblique three-factor structure emerged to best fit the data in both a sample of parents of schoolchildren (N=205) and in a sample of parents of children with chronic pain (N=107). Moreover, this three-factor structure was found to be invariant across both parent samples. Further, in the clinical sample, parents' catastrophic thinking about their child's pain had a significant contribution in explaining (a) childhood illness-related parenting stress, parental depression and anxiety, and (b) the child's disability and school attendance, beyond the child's pain intensity.     

Calibration of an item pool for assessing the disability associated with foot pain: an application of item response theory to the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index

Objective

To analyze the relative validity of the 17-item Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index (MFPDI) using graded response item response theory analysis (G-IRT).

Design

The design of the study involved a survey instrument validation.

Participants/Patients

A total of 682 respondents with a history of foot pain in the last month.

Methods

Factor analysis and G-IRT were used to analyze the dimensionality and relative validity of each scale item.

Results

Exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-factor solution. G-IRT resulted in the removal of one of the original 17 items from the MFPDI. Analyses revealed that six of the nine foot and ankle function items of the MFPDI demonstrated excellent discrimination. For the seven pain and appearance items, only one item demonstrated excellent discrimination, the remaining demonstrated moderate discrimination.

Conclusion

G-IRT was successful in outlining selected items representative of disability and pain and appearance. By reducing the MFPDI to 16 items, the Modified MFPDI is multidimensional and is associated with the underlying construct of activity related foot and ankle disability and pain and appearance. By reducing the MFPDI to 16 items, a clinician can be confident that the outcome instrument accurately represents the latent construct of disability and pain and appearance.     

The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ)-further validation including a confirmatory factor analysis and a comparison with the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia

Acceptance of pain and distress has lately appeared as an important factor in determining peoples’ ability to restore functioning in the presence of chronic pain. Although treatments based on cognitive behaviour therapy are beginning to incorporate acceptance strategies, there is still a lack of reliable and valid instruments to assess relevant processes in such interventions. The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) was originally constructed as part of the development of an acceptance oriented treatment approach for pain patients. A revised 20-item version of the instrument with two subscales has shown adequate reliability and validity. In the present study, a Swedish translation of CPAQ was evaluated with 611 participants reporting chronic pain and symptoms of whiplash associated disorders. This study sought to further assess the psychometric properties of the instrument and to investigate its relation to another important measure of pain adjustment, the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia. Due to low intercorrelations with other items, item 16 was excluded. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the previously suggested two-factor solution. Furthermore, the internal consistencies were good for the subscales (activities engagement and pain willingness) as well as the total scale. Hierarchical regression analyses illustrated strong relations with criteria variables (e.g. disability and life satisfaction). In general, the activities engagement subscale contributed more than pain willingness to the prediction of criteria variables. Furthermore, results illustrated that CPAQ explained more variance than the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia in pain intensity, disability, life satisfaction, and depression.     

Factor structure and concurrent/convergent validity of the modified somatic perception questionnaire and pain beliefs instrument

Objective

Our goal was to create a parsimonious combination of the Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire (MSPQ) and the Pain Beliefs Screening Instrument (PBSI) through factorial structural analysis and to investigate the associations of the new scale (if unique) to disability, health condition, and quality of life report in patients with neck and low back pain scheduled for spine fusion surgery.

Methods

Factor analysis was used to refine all items within the 2 scales to 4 distinct factors: (1) somatic complaints of the head/neck, (2) somatic complaints of the gastrointestinal symptom, (3) pain beliefs and fear, and (4) self perception of serious problems. Each factor was assessed for concurrent validity with other well-established tools including the Deyo comorbidity index, the Short Form (SF)-36 mental and physical component subscales, and the Oswestry and Neck Disability Indices (ODI/NDI).

Results

The PBSI was fairly to moderately correlated with assessment tools of quality of life (SF-36) and disability assessment (ODI/NDI). Some of the items in the factor 1 from the MSPQ were slightly associated with the Deyo comorbidity index but not with the ODI/NDI.

Conclusions

The items from the MSPQ failed to associate with measures of quality of life and disability and thus may provide only marginal value when assessing the multidimensional aspects associated with neck and low back pain. The PBSI has moderate correlation with disability assessments. Neither tool was found to strongly correlate with disability measures or with SF-36 scales (mental and physical component subscales). Additional tools may be needed to further identify the dimensions associated with chronic pain patients.     

The Psychological Inflexibility in Pain Scale (PIPS) – Statistical properties and model fit of an instrument to assess change processes in pain related disability

Recent developments within CBT have emphasized acceptance rather than control of pain and distress in treatments aimed at improving functioning and life quality, but there is still a lack of reliable and valid instruments to assess relevant processes in such interventions. The Psychological Inflexibility in Pain Scale (PIPS) was developed to assess target variables in exposure and acceptance oriented treatments. A preliminary validation study resulted in a two‐factor solution with subscales for avoidance and cognitive fusion related to pain, showing satisfactory psychometric properties. This study sought to evaluate the instrument with 611 participants with whiplash associated disorders. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two‐factor solution with 12 items which showed an acceptable model fit, adequate internal consistencies, and strong relations with criteria variables (e.g. disability and life satisfaction). The construct validity of the instrument was supported by high correlations with subscales from the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) and the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK). Notably, hierarchical regression analyses illustrated that PIPS explained more variance than TSK in pain, disability, life satisfaction and depression. Furthermore, PIPS was found to mediate the relationship between e.g. pain and disability, suggesting the usefulness of PIPS as a process measure in treatments of people with chronic pain. Thus, it is argued that this 12‐item version of PIPS may be used to explore the importance of psychological in/flexibility in chronic pain and to analyse processes of change in exposure based interventions, as well as for clinicians in tailoring interventions for patients with chronic debilitating pain.     

Symptoms of depression and stress mediate the effect of pain on disability

The mechanism or mechanisms involved in the development of pain-related disability in people with low back pain is unclear. Psychological distress has been identified as one potential pathway by which an episode of pain influences the development of persistent disabling symptoms; however, the relationship has not been formally investigated. This study investigated the causal relationship between pain and disability via psychological distress (and its components depression, stress, and anxiety) by using mediation path analysis. The study sample included 231 participants with subacute low back pain (6 to 12 weeks’ pain duration) who had been recruited for an exercise-based randomised, controlled trial. All participants completed self-report assessments of pain (0-10 numerical rating scale), disability (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire), and psychological distress (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale) at baseline and again at 2 follow-up time points (6 and 12 weeks after baseline). The results of the mediation analysis suggest that approximately 30% of the relationship between subacute pain and later disability is dependent on the level of patients’ psychological distress. The finding that psychological distress only partially (30%) mediated the pain-disability relationship indicates that other factors should also be explored. Further analysis into the components of psychological distress revealed that the symptoms of depression and stress, but not anxiety, are responsible for mediation of the pain-disability relationship. These findings provide an opportunity to decrease the risk of long-term disability through early identification and management of depressive and stress symptoms.     

Negative affect, self-report of depressive symptoms, and clinical depression: relation to the experience of chronic pain

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to examine the relative importance of global affective distress, self-report of depressive symptoms, and presence or absence of major depression to the experience of chronic pain. SETTING: A multidisciplinary pain program at a university medical center was the setting for this study. PATIENTS: Subjects in this study were 211 consecutive patients with chronic pain. OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain duration, compensation, and litigation status were controlled for in the statistical analyses, as each correlated significantly with at least one of the measures of affect. Global affective distress was assessed using the Global Severity Index (GSI) from the Brief Symptom Inventory. The Beck Depression Inventory and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were used as measures of self-report of depressive symptoms. Presence or absence of major depression was based on DSM-IV criteria. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The GSI, Beck Depression Inventory, and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were significantly correlated with each measure of the experience of pain, although clinical depression was only significantly related to self-reported disability and negative thoughts about pain. The self-report measures of depression maintained their relation to the dependent measures when the somatic items from the scales were removed, suggesting that the relations were not spuriously due to the influence of pain symptoms on the scales. When examining the unique contribution of each variable to the experience of pain (by simultaneously controlling for the other measures of affect), the GSI was uniquely related to the sensory and affective components of pain. Self-report of depressive symptoms was more highly related to a measure of the evaluative component of pain and uniquely related to self-reported disability and negative thoughts about pain. The results are discussed within the context of theoretical models of the relation between pain and affect, and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Pain characteristics in patients admitted to hospital with complications after spinal cord injury

OBJECTIVES: To determine characteristics of pain, the relation between pain and mood, the effect of pain on activities, and the perceived difficulty in coping with pain in patients hospitalized for treatment of complications associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Cohort survey. SETTING: Hospital inpatient unit in Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive sample of patients (N=88) admitted to a hospital spinal injuries unit with complications after SCI. Two eligible patients declined to participate. INTERVENTION: Face-to-face interview with questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain severity, global self-rated health, mood (Kessler Mood Inventory), and interference with activities (Von Korff disability scale). RESULTS: Sixty-six (75%) of the 88 subjects experienced pain, with an average time of onset +/- standard deviation of 8.02+/-12.4 years; 27% of those with pain described it as severe or excruciating. Subjects with pain were less likely to rate their global health as excellent or very good when compared with those who did not have pain (22% vs 44%, respectively). Patients with pain had significantly greater levels of psychologic distress than did people with SCI and no pain. CONCLUSIONS: Pain is a common problem in people admitted to hospital with SCI for treatment of other complications. It has a significant impact on activities and is associated with a reduction in global self-rated health and higher levels of psychologic distress.     

Disability after a stroke and the influence of long-term pain on everyday life

Pain after a stroke is a symptom often forgotten, unnoticed although it is reported to be a great problem in care. The aim of this study was to describe disability after a stroke and how long-term pain influences everyday life according to the Multidimensional Pain Inventory - Swedish language version (MPI-S) and to test the reliability of this instrument. Forty-three persons were investigated 2 years after the stroke incident: 15 with central post-stroke pain (CPSP), 18 with nociceptive pain mainly in the shoulder and 10 with tension-type headache. Data collection was performed through the MPI-S and a questionnaire regarding assistive devices, also structured interviews based on the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) staircase and the Self-report impairment questionnaire. The results show that the persons suffered moderate to severe pain. Almost half were dependent in ADL. The most often reported impairments and use of assistive devices concerned mobility and/or motion. This was most frequent in persons with nociceptive pain. There were significant differences in persons with central pain and nociceptive pain compared with tension-type headache with regard to mobility- and/or motion-related activities. No statistical differences emerged between age, gender, different types of pain and the MPI-S scales, nor any significant differences in degree of pain as between different types of pain according to the Self-report impairment questionnaire. The reliability analysis of the MPI-S shows good homogeneity in all scales except Interference, Life Control and Affective Distress. This is the first study with MPI-S on mainly older persons and on stroke patients, thus further research is needed on this instrument as well as on which specific activities evoke the pain. This is in order to offer adequate treatment, care and support to persons with pain after a stroke.     

Children's ratings of the intensity and unpleasantness of post-operative pain using facial expression scales.

This study explored whether global unidimensional self-report pain scales based on facial expression help children separately estimate the sensory and affective magnitude of post-operative pain. Ninety paediatric elective surgery patients (in two age groups: 5-9 and 10-15 years) used each of four scales to estimate pain intensity and pain affect during the first 2 days after surgery. The four scales were: Faces Pain Scale (FPS), Facial Affective Scale (FAS), and the Coloured Analogue Scale (CAS) (one for intensity and one for unpleasantness). As hypothesised, ratings on the FPS correlated more highly with analogue scale ratings for intensity than for unpleasantness, whereas ratings on the FAS correlated more highly with those on the analogue scale for unpleasantness than for intensity. Factor analysis indicated that although all measures loaded on a single dimension of distress, there was an additional weaker factor corresponding to a unique contribution of the FAS. No systematic age effects were observed. It was concluded that the FPS and the FAS may partly measure different aspects of the postoperative pain experience in children, although shared instrument variance may obscure true estimates of covariation in ratings of intensity and affective magnitude. The clinical relevance of the present results remains to be determined.     

Pain belief screening instrument: Development and preliminary validation of a screening instrument for disabling persistent pain.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and test the ability of a screening instrument to identify subgroups among primary healthcare patients with musculoskeletal pain. The Pain Belief Screening Instrument covers pain intensity, disability, self-efficacy, fear avoidance and catastrophizing. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, correlational and comparative study. SUBJECTS: Patients in primary healthcare (n1 = 215; n2 = 93) with a pain duration of 4 weeks or more were included. METHODS: Items for the Pain Belief Screening Instrument were derived from principal component analyses of: the Self-efficacy Scale, the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia and the Catastrophizing subscale in the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Cluster solutions of scores on the screening instrument and the original instruments were cross-tabulated. The reliability of items in the Pain Belief Screening Instrument was examined. RESULTS: The screening instrument identified 2 groups: high- or low-risk profile for pain-related disability. Validity was in-between moderate and substantial (kappa = 0.61, p < 0.001). The reliability of each item in the Pain Belief Screening Instrument in relation to the corresponding item in the original instruments was moderate to high (rs 0.50-0.80, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The screening instrument fairly well replicated subgroups identified by the original instruments. The reliability of items in the screening instrument was acceptable. Further testing of predictive validity for a primary healthcare population is needed..     

Prevalence of fear of pain and activity in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome

Patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) report pain, fatigue, emotional distress, activity avoidance, and disability. The role of fear of pain and activity in FMS patients has received only limited attention. FMS patients (N = 233) underwent examinations by a physician, physical therapist, and psychologist and completed measures of fear of pain and activity, disability, depressive mood, impact, and pain. Patients with high levels of fear of pain and activity (38.6%) reported greater disability (t = 4.02, P < .001), depressed mood (t = -4.14, P < .001), pain severity (t = -2.71, P < .01), and lower treadmill performance (t = -2.39, P < .05) than patients with low fear. Patients classified on the Multidimensional Pain Inventory as Dysfunctional reported greater fear than Interpersonally Distressed patients and Adaptive Copers (F = 8.13, P < .001). Only 50% of Dysfunctional patients, however, met the criterion of high fear, whereas 23.4% of Adaptive Copers met this criterion. Demographic factors, perceived disability, and Multidimensional Pain Inventory subgroup significantly predicted fear of pain and activity, accounting for 21.2% of the variance. Fear of pain and activity is prevalent among FMS patients. Treatment should address patient fears, because it might reduce disability and rates of nonadherence and attrition from outcome studies. PERSPECTIVE: Fear of movement is a significant concern for chronic pain sufferers because these behaviors maintain pain and increase disability. This study examined the role of fear in FMS, including associations between fear of pain/movement, pain severity, depressed mood, physical performance, and disability in FMS subgroups.