Developing and Testing a Questionnaire to Assess the Quality of Pain Management in Acute Care in Sweden

Pain management is an important indicator of the quality of patient care. The aim of this study was to develop and test a questionnaire to assess the quality of pain management in acute care in Sweden with emphasis on validity and reliability, as well as pain severity, interference with function, and patient participation. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with consecutively selected patients in pain (n = 100 in study group I and n = 127 in study group II) who completed the questionnaire. Cronbach's reliability coefficient α for 20 items in the questionnaire was 0.80. The construct validity of the questionnaire was estimated using a principal components analysis. Four orthogonal factors were identified: (1) “Interference with function,” (2) “Pain severity,” (3) “Communication,” and (4) “Participation.” The results indicate that the item “pain right now” is reliable and valid, although the item was divided to assess pain at rest as well as with movement. Interference scores were significantly and positively correlated with pain scores at rest and with movement, as well as with average pain scores. High numeric rating scale scores influenced both the patients' enjoyment of life and their capacity to walk and general activity. The questionnaire is considered to be a useful, reliable, and valid self-report tool to assess the quality of pain management in acute care. A few items need to be refined, tested, and evaluated in future research.