VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF SINHALA VERSION SHORT FROM Mc,Gill PAIN QUESTIONNAIRE-2 (SF MPQ-2-SIN) AS A PAIN DESCRIPTOR AMONG CANCER PATIENTS IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Background: Pain is a common complaint of patients with cancer in view ol chronic and prov es ' e nature of cancers. Proper assessment of pain is a prerequisite for its optimal management. Pain 1 Hest assessed by using validated tools developed in patients' own language. SF MPQ-2 is a global!) used pain descriptor translated and validated in different languages. However, validated Sinhala version ol SF MPQ-2 is yet to be developed and used among the majority of Sinhala speaking population. Purpose: Our aim was to validate Sinhala version of SF MPQ-2 among Sinhala speaking cancer patients in Sri Lanka. Methodology: Questionnaire was administered to 207 patients with cancer pain attending Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama. Content validity was tested by expert opinion, l ace validity was tested by interviews had with patients with cancer pain and the construct validity b> factor analysis. The reliability was tested by internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha and the acceptable threshold was considered > 0.70. Results: A total of 207 participants (112 males, 95 females), mean age of 54 (SD+ 13) years, were included in the study. Four factors extracted by factor analysis explained 53.5% of the variance, which was in line with studies done in other countries The Cronbach’s alpha for four subscales neuropathic, affective, intermittent and continues were 0 768 0.791, 0.824, and 0.789 respectively. Conclusion. We conclude that the SF-MPQ-2-Sinhala version is a valid and reliable pain descriptor for evaluation of cancer pain in Sinhala speaking patients in Sri Lanka.