Development and initial validation of an expanded and revised version of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ-2)

TLDR

The study aimed to create a single instrument that captures the main symptoms of both neuropathic and non‑neuropathic pain for use in epidemiologic, pathophysiologic, and treatment‑response research. The authors expanded the Short‑form McGill Pain Questionnaire by adding neuropathic descriptors and adopting a 0‑10 numerical rating scale, then evaluated its reliability, validity, and factor structure in 882 chronic‑pain patients and 226 diabetic‑neuropathy patients in a randomized trial. Results demonstrated excellent reliability and validity, with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supporting four interpretable subscales—continuous pain, intermittent pain, predominantly neuropathic pain, and affective descriptors—establishing the SF‑MPQ‑2 as a useful tool for future clinical trials.

Abstract

The objective of the present research was to develop a single measure of the major symptoms of both neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain that can be used in studies of epidemiology, natural history, pathophysiologic mechanisms, and treatment response. We expanded and revised the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) pain descriptors by adding symptoms relevant to neuropathic pain and by modifying the response format to a 0-10 numerical rating scale to provide increased responsiveness in longitudinal studies and clinical trials. The reliability, validity, and subscale structure of the revised SF-MPQ (SF-MPQ-2) were examined in responses from 882 individuals with diverse chronic pain syndromes and in 226 patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy who participated in a randomized clinical trial. The data suggest that the SF-MPQ-2 has excellent reliability and validity, and the results of both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for four readily interpretable subscales-continuous pain, intermittent pain, predominantly neuropathic pain, and affective descriptors. These results provide a basis for use of the SF-MPQ-2 in future clinical research, including clinical trials of treatments for neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain conditions.