The validity and reliability of the Turkish version of short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire in patients with leukemia

Aims and objectives. To assess reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Background. Pain is one of the most frequent and significant problems encountered by nurses practice across the world. The Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire was widely translated and used to assess the pain experience of several types of patients because it combines the properties of the standard McGill Pain Questionnaire but takes substantially less time to administer. Design. The study used psychometric testing to establish reliability and validity of the Turkish version of Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Methods. A convenience sample of 160 patients with leukaemia in Turkey was used to collect data regarding pain evaluation. The original version of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, adapted into Turkish, was tested for internal consistency, content validity, construct validity and concurrent validity. Results. Internal consistency was found adequate at both assessments with Cronbachs a 0.88 for test and 0.91 for retest. For reliability of the total, sensory, affective and evaluative total pain intensity, high intraclass correlations were demonstrated (0.85, 0.84, 0.82 and 0.70, respectively). Correlation of total, sensory and affective score with the numerical rating scale was tested for construct validity demonstrating r = 0.61 (p < 0.01) for test and r = 0.68 (p < 0.01) for retest. Correlation with blood pressure values for concurrent validity was found to be r = 0.78 (p < 0.001) for test and r = 0.73 (p < 0.001) for retest. Conclusion. Turkish version of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire has shown statistically acceptable levels of reliability and validity for pain evaluation in patients with leukaemia. Relevance to clinical practice. This study provided evidence that the Turkish version of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing pain. This scale can be used to assess nursing interventions aimed at decreasing pain and efficacy of the treatment.