Beyond pain intensity: Validating single-item pain bothersomeness measures.

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Abstract

Chronic pain is a complex and multifaceted health condition, rendering pain intensity alone insufficient for comprehensively understanding the impact of pain. Pain bothersomeness scales have been developed to measure pain's impact on life, however lack adequate validation. Our study examines the validity of two single-item measures (5-point and 11-point response scales) for pain bothersomeness. We collected data from 633 treatment-seeking adults with mixed-etiology chronic pain. Pearson correlations were conducted to examine the relationships between each pain bothersomeness item and 20 general and pain-related functioning measures. ANOVAs examined the ability of pain bothersomeness scores to discriminate between eight groupings based on general and pain-related functioning. Linear regressions analyzed pain bothersomeness as a predictor of 14 measures of general and pain-related functioning three months later. Both pain bothersomeness items correlated significantly with 19 functioning measures and discriminated between eight groupings. Controlling for covariates, both items were consistently predictive of worse pain interference (Total adj r² =.34), pain catastrophizing (Total adj r² =.21-.22), depression (Total adj r² =.25-.26), and satisfaction with social roles (Total adj r² =.13-.16) three months later. Both single-item pain bothersomeness items demonstrated consistent concurrent, discriminant, and predictive validity. These low-burden assessments provide valuable information about patient functioning in clinical settings, suggesting their utility in improving chronic pain care. PERSPECTIVE: Both single-item pain bothersomeness measures demonstrated consistent concurrent and discriminant validity. Both items predicted worse pain interference, pain catastrophizing, depression, and social functioning 3-months later.

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