Development and Validation of a Brazilian Version of the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ)

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a short form of the Brazilian version of McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ). Three hundred two patients with chronic pain filled out the validated Brazilian long form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (LF-MPQ). Words chosen by ≥25% of the patients were selected to comprise the SF-MPQ. The Brazilian SF-MPQ consisted of 15 descriptors (8 sensory, 5 affective, and 2 evaluative) rated on a binary mode (present or absent). Four pain scores were derived by counting the words chosen by the patients for sensory, affective, evaluative, and total descriptors. The SF-MPQ showed poor internal consistency (KR-20 = 0.52) but possibly acceptable because it showed discriminant validity to discriminate patients presenting different levels and mechanisms of pain, and it was strongly correlated with the LF-MPQ. The low KR-20 coefficient could result from the small number of items. The Brazilian version of the SF-MPQ proved to be a useful instrument to evaluate the different qualities of pain. It is a reliable option to the long-form MPQ.