The McGill Pain Questionnaire, Japanese version, reconsidered: confirming the theoretical structure

Area of Science:

• Pain research
• Psychometrics
• Cross-cultural adaptation of measures

Background:

• The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and its Pain Rating Index (PRI) are widely used for clinical pain assessment.
• Language and cultural differences pose challenges for the standardization of the MPQ in Japan.
• Previous studies have yielded mixed results regarding the theoretical structure of the MPQ.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the theoretical structure of a Japanese version of the MPQ (JMPQ) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
• To assess if the JMPQ accurately reflects the multidimensional nature of pain as proposed by the original MPQ model.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on data from 199 chronic pain outpatients.
• The study utilized prospectively collected data from a university hospital setting.
• The analysis focused on the first 16 PRI subclass scores of the JMPQ.

Main Results:

• The CFA resulted in a well-fitting model, explaining 92% of the observed data's covariance.
• The sensory, affective, and evaluative subscales of the PRI were found to be representative of pain's multidimensionality with minimal overlap.
• The results statistically supported the a priori theoretical structure of the MPQ within the JMPQ.

Conclusions:

• The theoretical structure of the MPQ is preserved in the Japanese version (JMPQ).
• This study represents a significant step towards the standardization of the JMPQ.
• The findings facilitate cross-cultural understanding and collaboration in pain medicine between Japan and English-speaking countries.