Development and Initial Evaluation of the Patterns of Activity Measure-Pain Short Form

There has been growing interest in examining pain-related activity patterns and their relationships to psychosocial functioning. The Patterns of Activity Measure-Pain (POAM-P) is frequently used to measure 3 pain-related activity patterns: avoidance, overdoing, and pacing. Although the POAM-P possesses excellent psychometric properties, its length may limit its utility where multiple measures of functioning are required or the time available for assessment is limited. The present studies describe the development and evaluation of a short-form version of this measure.

In Study 1, 775 individuals with ongoing pain completed the original POAM-P at the start of a treatment program. Item analyses were conducted to construct a short-form of the POAM-P. In Study 2, a separate sample of 171 individuals completed the original and short-form of the POAM-P, and measures of psychosocial functioning. Correlations between the short-form and original, and between the short-form and measures of psychosocial functioning were examined to evaluate the reliability and validity of the short-form.

The 3 scales of the short-form were found to have excellent internal consistency and correlated well with corresponding scales on the original POAM-P. Correlations between scales on the short-form and measures of psychosocial functioning supported the construct validity of the measure.

The short-form of the POAM-P possesses good psychometric properties and correlates well with the long-form of the measure. It appears to be a promising addition to existing measures of pain-related activity. It may be useful as an addition to questionnaire batteries that comprehensively assess the psychosocial functioning of individuals with ongoing pain.