painDETECT Questionnaire Filipino version: Transcultural adaptation and validation in two widely spoken regional languages (Tagalog and Cebuano)

Background & Objective: Chronic pain impacts the quality of life of patients, with neuropathic pain causing profound negative sequelae. Assessment of pain whether nociceptive or neuropathic is important to provide appropriate treatment. The objective of this study is to translate and validate the pain-DETECT Questionnaire (PDQ) to two widely spoken regional languages in Filipino. Methods: The PDQ, a self-administered questionnaire, was translated from English into the Filipino version, painDETECT Tagalog (PDQ-Tag) and painDETECT Cebuano (PDQ-Ceb). One hundred Filipino patients suffering from pain for at least three months were recruited in the out-patient clinics of a hospital and completed the questionnaire. The investigators, blinded to the subjects PDQ-Tag and PDQ-Ceb scores, examined the subjects using the standard clinical and neurological examination. The PDQ-Tag and PDQ-Ceb, scores were validated. Both questionnaires were administered to the same patient twice, two days apart by the same investigator. Results: Seventy subjects completed the (PDQ-Tag) and thirty subjects the (PDQ-Ceb). The sensitivity and specificity of PDQ-Tag were both 80% for an upper limit cut-off value of >= 17. The sensitivity and specificity of PDQ-Ceb were 62.5% and 80% respectively, for an upper limit cut-off value >= 18.0. Both questionnaires were reliable [Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.78 (PDQ-Tag) and 0.70 (PDQ-Ceb), good test-retest stability with intra-class correlation coefficient: 0.93 for PDQ-Tag and 0.99 for PDQ-Ceb]. Cohen's kappa were 0.64 and 0.61 for PDQ-Ceb and PDQ-Tag respectively, with P value<0.001 indicating a significant agreement on the assessment of neuropathic pain. Conclusion: PDQ-Tag and PDQ-Ceb are reliable and valid self-administered screening tools to detect neuropathic pain among Filipinos.