Psychometric Characteristics of the PainDETECT Questionnaire in Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty for Osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an effective treatment for patients who have advanced osteoarthritis. Accurate preoperative assessment of pain characteristics is crucial for optimizing surgical planning and predicting outcomes. The PainDETECT Questionnaire (PDQ), a pain assessment tool, has demonstrated high reliability and validity, but its application in assessing pain characteristics in TKA patients in mainland China has not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of PDQ in pain detection for TKA, providing an effective preoperative pain assessment tool and method for clinical practice.

METHODS

This study enrolled 170 participants scheduled for unilateral TKA and administered four self-report questionnaires: the PDQ, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, the five-level EuroQoL Group's five-dimension questionnaire, and the Chinese version of the Central Sensitization Inventory. These assessments were conducted at baseline and one year postoperatively. Standard statistical methods and metrics were used to conduct a series of psychometric evaluations of PDQ, including assessments of reliability, validity, and responsiveness.

RESULTS

At the baseline, no significant ceiling or floor effects were observed. Additionally, the internal consistency reliability of PDQ (Cronbach's alpha) was above 0.9, indicating sufficient interitem correlation. The study found a moderate to very strong correlation between PDQ and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and a strong correlation with the five-level EuroQoL Group's five-dimension questionnaire and the Chinese version of the Central Sensitization Inventory, supporting the structural validity of PDQ. Furthermore, PDQ was found to be responsive to changes in pain over time, with a response index ranging from 1.37 to 2.05.

CONCLUSIONS

The PDQ assessment tool demonstrated good reliability, validity, and responsiveness in patients who have knee osteoarthritis undergoing TKA and can serve as a useful measurement tool for evaluating pain management strategies and the effectiveness of surgical interventions in clinical research.