Abstract

Background

Assessing features of centralized pain may prove to be clinically meaningful in pediatric populations. However, we are currently limited by the lack of validated pediatric measures.

Aim

We examined the psychometric properties of the Widespread Pain Index (WPI) and Symptom Severity (SS) scale to assess features of centralized pain in youth with painful conditions from three clinical samples: (1) musculoskeletal surgery, (2) headache, and (3) chronic pain.

Methods

Participants were 240 youth aged 10 to 18 years (Mage = 14.8, SD = 1.9) who completed the WPI and SS scale. Subsets of participants also completed additional measures of pain region, pain intensity, quality of life, pain interference, and physical function.

Results

Increased features of centralized pain by age were seen for the WPI (r = 0.27, P < 0.01) and SS scale (r = 0.29, P < 0.01). Expected differences in sex were seen for the WPI (sex: t132 = −3.62, P < 0.01) but not the SS scale (sex: t223 = −1.73, P = 0.09). Reliability for the SS scale was adequate (α = 0.70). Construct validity was demonstrated through relationships between the WPI and pain regions (r = 0.57, P < 0.01) and between the SS scale and quality of life (r = −0.59, P < 0.01) and pain interference (r = 0.56, P < 0.01). Criterion validity was demonstrated by differences on the WPI between the surgery sample and the headache and chronic pain samples (F2,237 = 17.55, P < 0.001). Comprehension of the SS scale items was problematic for some youth.

Conclusions

The WPI showed adequate psychometric properties in youth; however, the SS scale may need to be modified. Our findings support the need to develop psychometrically sound instruments for comprehensive assessment of pain in pediatric samples.

Details

Title
Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Widespread Pain Index and the Symptom Severity Scale in youth with painful conditions
Author
Dudeney, Joanne 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Law, Emily F 2 ; Meyyappan, Alagumeena 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Palermo, Tonya M 2 ; Rabbitts, Jennifer A 4 

1  Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA; School of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 
2  Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA 
3  Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA 
4  Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA; Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA 
Pages
137-147
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Jan 2019
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
e-ISSN
2474-0527
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/24740527.2019.1620097
ProQuest document ID
2453887111
Copyright
© 2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.