Preliminary Validation of the Pain Burden Inventory in a Pediatric Chronic Pain Population

Objective: To determine the preliminary reliability and validity of the Pain Burden Inventory-Youth (PBI-Y), a 7-item measure of the impact of chronic pain in adolescents with chronic pain that was, initially validated in youth with sickle cell disease. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of 130 patients presenting to an interdisciplinary pain clinic were examined with 98 (mean age=14.49; 66% female) comprising the final sample. Demographic information as well as adolescent and parent self-reported measures were examined. Results: Youth reported a variety of pains including abdominal pain, headaches, back pain, and amplified musculoskeletal pain. The PBI-Y demonstrated strong internal reliability (alpha=0.792) and strong cross-informant concordance (r=0.822; P=0.000). Good construct validity was seen where higher scores on the PBI-Y were correlated with higher scores of (1) functional disability (r=0.689; P=0.000), (2) pain catastrophizing (r=0.494; P=0.000), (3) pain frequency days (r=0.526; P=0.000), (4) usual pain intensity (r=0.467; P=0.000), and (5) the worst pain intensity (r=0.485; P=0.000). Similar results were seen with caregiver assessments. Neither caregiver nor youth reports differed based on the sex or age of the child. Discussion: The results support the psychometric properties of a brief self-report measure of pain impact in a pediatric chronic pain population. This measure may have great utility for clinicians caring for youth with chronic pain.

Automated summary

The study examined 130 adolescents with chronic pain, with 98 (mean age 14.49, 66% female) included in the final sample. Results showed that the PBI-Y had good internal reliability and validity, and was positively correlated with functional disability, pain catastrophizing, pain frequency days, pain intensity, and worst pain intensity.