Highlights
- •Study purpose was to conduct psychometric analysis of the Centrality of Pain Scale (COPS).
- •Principal components analysis revealed a single factor, and all items loaded highly.
- •COPS scores correlated with other measures of pain and mental health.
- •COPS score was independently associated with pain severity and pain interference.
- •Future research is needed to assess measure stability, psychometric characteristics in other settings, and responsiveness to change following clinical intervention.
Abstract
The Centrality of Pain Scale (COPS) is a recently developed patient-centered, 10-item
self-report measure designed to assess how central, or dominating, in their lives
individuals with chronic pain perceive pain to be. The COPS underwent initial development
and validation previously; preliminary results suggested that the measure had excellent
psychometric properties and that COPS scores were associated with important clinical
factors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties
of the COPS in a sample of individuals with mixed chronic pain diagnoses (N = 178)
being treated at a U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Principal components analysis
of COPS items revealed a single factor, and all items loaded highly. The COPS had
high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .902) and was significantly correlated
with other measures of pain, mental health, psychological factors associated with
pain, and chronic pain coping styles, suggesting convergent and divergent validity.
Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that COPS score was independently
associated with both pain severity and interference. Future research should evaluate
the generalizability of the COPS in different samples, its responsiveness to treatment,
and the extent to which pain centrality may be a focus of nonpharmacologic interventions
for chronic pain.
Perspective
We conducted psychometric testing of the COPS, a recently developed patient-centered
self-report measure designed to examine how central or dominating pain is to a person's
life. Study results indicated a reliable and valid measure, which was significantly
associated with pain severity and interference, even after controlling for demographic
and clinical factors.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 06, 2015
Accepted:
April 15,
2015
Received in revised form:
April 6,
2015
Received:
November 4,
2014
Footnotes
This study was supported in part by awards 023467 and 034083 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to B.J.M. The work was supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Portland Health Care System. During the past 12 months, D.C.T. has received consulting fees from Eli Lilly, Mallincrodt, Nektar, Orexo, Ortho-McNeil Janssen, Pfizer, Philips Respironics, and Xydinia and receives research support from the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Food & Drug Administration. No other author reports having any potential conflict of interest with this study. The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
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Published by Elsevier Inc.
