Reliability and validity of the Korean Cancer Pain Assessment Tool (KCPAT)

The Korean Cancer Pain Assessment Tool (KCPAT), which was developed in 2003, consists of questions concerning the location of pain, the nature of pain, the present pain intensity, the symptoms associated with the pain, and psychosocial/spiritual pain assessments. This study was carried out to evaluate the reliability and validity of the KCPAT. A stratified, proportional-quota, clustered, systematic sampling procedure was used. The study population (903 cancer patients) was 1% of the target population (90,252 cancer patients). A total of 314 (34.8%) questionnaires were collected. The results showed that the average pain score (5 point on Likert scale) according to the cancer type and the at-present average pain score (VAS, 0-10) were correlated (r=0.56, p<0.0001), and showed moderate agreement (kappa=0.364). The mean satisfaction score was 3.8 (1-5). The average time to complete the questionnaire was 8.9 min. In conclusion, the KCPAT is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing cancer pain in Koreans.