Validation of the Thai version of brief pain inventory (BPI-T) in cancer patients

Abstract

Background: Pain is one of the most frequent and deleterious symptoms for patients with advanced cancer. Pain assessment is important because it is used for detecting severity of disease and the response to treatment. To provide the adequate treatment for pain relief in cancer patients, an assessment tool should be used for pain evaluation. Moreover, suitable tools for pain evaluation should be validated in local language to obtain better pain information. Objective: The objective of the present study was to demonstrate validity and reliability of the Thai version of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI-T), which is a simple and concise instrument for pain assessment. Material and Method: The available data were obtained from 520 patients with cancer pain. The data included pain severity, which patients reported using Thai version of Brief Pain Inventory (BPI-T). The pain severity and pain information were reported three times with 2-week intervals between each assessment time point. Results: Factor analysis of the Thai version of the Brief Pain Inventory resulted in two factors, pain severity and pain interference, showing valid structures consistent with other language versions of the instrument. Cronbach's alphas, computed for pain interference and pain severity item were 0.88 and 0.89, 0.01 and 0.92, and 0.93 and 0.94, for first, second, and third assessment time, respectively. Conclusion: Thai version of the Brief Pain Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for cancer pain assessment in Thailand.