Highlights
- •The PSEQ and its short forms are responsive in patients with chronic low back pain.
- •The 4-item PSEQ could be preferred over the original PSEQ in busy clinical settings.
- •The minimal important change of PSEQ and short forms depends on baseline values.
Abstract
The Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) is a valid and reliable patient-reported
instrument used to assess pain self-efficacy in patients with chronic low back pain
(CLBP). Recently, the 2-item (PSEQ-2) and the 4-item (PSEQ-4) short versions were
developed showing satisfactory measurement properties in mixed populations with chronic
pain. The aim of this study was to examine responsiveness and minimal important change
(MIC) of PSEQ, PSEQ-2, and PSEQ-4 in patients with CLBP. We used a sample of 104 patients
undergoing multimodal physical therapy designed to partly change pain self-efficacy
beliefs. Responsiveness was assessed by testing 16 a priori formulated hypotheses
regarding effect sizes, areas under the curve, and correlations with changes in other
instruments measuring other constructs. The MIC was calculated using an external anchor
specific for pain self-efficacy and the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) method.
The PSEQ and the PSEQ-4 met all hypotheses, whereas the PSEQ-2 met all but 1. The
MICs were 5.5 for the PSEQ (9% of the scale range) and 1.5 for PSEQ-2 (13% scale range)
and PSEQ-4 (6% scale range). MIC values were different for patients with low or high
baseline values for all 3 instruments. The PSEQ and its short versions are adequately
responsive instruments in patients with CLBP.
Perspective
This study suggests that the PSEQ and its short versions are responsive measures of
pain self-efficacy in patients with CLBP, adding to previous literature on their validity
and reliability. Considering their similar responsiveness, the 4-item PSEQ could replace
the original 10-item version in busy clinical or research settings.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 11, 2016
Accepted:
February 18,
2016
Received in revised form:
February 12,
2016
Received:
December 16,
2015
Footnotes
No funding sources were provided for this work. The authors do not have any conflict of interest regarding the content of this manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Pain Society
