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Validation of brief pain inventory to Brazilian patients with pain

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Abstract

Purpose

To validate the Brazilian version of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI-B) scale and to determine the optimal cutpoints for mild, moderate, and severe pain based on patients' rating of their worst pain.

Methods

One hundred forty-three outpatients with cancer were recruited in Hospital das Clinicas–University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Results

Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two underlying dimensions, pain severity, and pain interference, with Cronbach's α of 0.91 and 0.87, respectively. Convergent validity was shown by the correlation observed between the BPI dimensions with the EORTC-QLQ-C30 pain scale and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. The BPI-B detected significant differences in the two dimensions by disease and performance status, supporting known-group validity. For the worst pain, the optimal cutpoints were 4 and 7 (1–4 = mild pain, 5–7 = moderate, and 8–10 = severe).

Conclusions

Our data show that BPI-B is a brief, useful, and valid tool for assessing pain and its impact on patient's life.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the physicians, nurses, and physical therapists from the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, who helped us to enroll patients in our study.

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

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Correspondence to Karine A. Ferreira.

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Ferreira, K.A., Teixeira, M.J., Mendonza, T.R. et al. Validation of brief pain inventory to Brazilian patients with pain. Support Care Cancer 19, 505–511 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0844-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0844-7

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