Initial validation of the exercise chronic pain acceptance questionnaire.

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Pain Management
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Chronic pain acceptance is linked to exercise adherence in arthritis.
• The standard CPAQ may lack specificity for exercise-related activities.
• A tailored measure is needed to assess pain acceptance for exercise in arthritis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a modified Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ-E) specifically for exercise.
• To assess the psychometric properties and predictive validity of the CPAQ-E.

Main Methods:

• Developed the CPAQ-E, a 14-item, two-factor scale (pain willingness, activities engagement).
• Administered CPAQ-E to 98 exercising adults with arthritis at baseline.
• Used exploratory factor analysis and regression to analyze data and predict exercise adherence.

Main Results:

• The CPAQ-E demonstrated good psychometric properties (two-factor, 14-item model).
• Both CPAQ-E subscales and total score significantly predicted future exercise bouts.
• Activities engagement subscale predicted future exercise volume.

Conclusions:

• The CPAQ-E shows preliminary factorial and predictive validity in exercising individuals with arthritis.
• This measure can enhance research specificity in pain acceptance and exercise.
• Clinicians may use CPAQ-E to better interpret patient exercise responses for pain self-management.