Factorial validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (ChPVAQ) in a sample of Chinese patients with chronic pain.

PURPOSE: The Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ) has been shown to be a reliable measure for assessing attention to pain. Different factor structures have been reported in Western populations; yet, whether the known factor models could be replicated in non-Western populations and the psychometric properties of the scale remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the factorial validity and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the PVAQ (ChPVAQ).

METHODS: A total of 242 Chinese patients with chronic pain completed the ChPVAQ, the Chronic Pain Grade questionnaire, the Chinese version of the 11-item version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (ChTSK-11), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and questions assessing socio-demographic characteristics.

RESULTS: Results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that of the nine competing models tested, McCracken's two-factor correlated model for the 13-item version of PVAQ (PVAQ-13) demonstrated the best data-model fit (CFI = 0.93). The two subscales and the entire scale of ChPVAQ-13 obtained moderately high internal consistency (Cronbach's αs: 0.75-0.77). The ChPVAQ-13 scales showed significant positive correlations with HADS, ChTSK11, pain intensity, and disability scores. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed the ChPVAQ-13 scales predicted concurrent depression (F[4,187] = 6.01, P < 0.001) and pain disability (F[4,190] = 3.54, P < 0.05) scores. Passive Awareness emerged as significant independent predictor of concurrent depression (standardized beta coefficient [std β] = 0.17, P < 0.05) and pain disability (std β = 0.24, P < 0.01), while Active Vigilance (std β = 0.19, P < 0.05) predicted concurrent pain disability.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results offer preliminary evidence for the factorial validity and reliability the ChPVAQ-13.