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

Abstract

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