A New Biopsychosocial Questionnaire in Individuals with Chronic Neck Pain: A Psychometric Study.

BACKGROUND

It is crucial to assess the extent of biopsychosocial involvement and consider how treatment affects it as the first step in providing care for individuals with neck pain.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the validity, reliability, and responsiveness of a Cognitive Exercise Therapy Approach (BETY)-Biopsychosocial Questionnaire (BQ) in chronic neck pain.

METHOD: The Neck Disability Index (NDI), the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH), the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used for the validity analysis. For testing reliability, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient were checked. For responsiveness, all scales were reapplied to individuals who were included in a 2-week physiotherapy intervention.

SETTING

Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department of the General Hospital, Cyprus.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred ninety-nine individuals with chronic neck pain were included in the study.

RESULTS

The Pearson's correlations between the BETY-Biopsychosocial Questionnaire and the NDI, DASH, HADS-Anxiety, and HADS-Depression scores were found to be moderate to high (r=0.64, P < .001; r=0.74, P < .001; r=0.64, P < .001; r=0.58, P < .001, respectively). A moderate to high negative correlation was identified between BETY-BQ and SF-36 (r=-0.45 to r=-0.68, P < .001). ICC values were found to be excellent (r=0.993, P < .001). The Cronbach's alpha value showed excellent internal consistency (0.997). There was a good agreement between the pre- and post-test BETY-BQ forms. The calculated effect size for the pre- and post-treatment clinical evaluations was moderate (0.5), and the standardized response mean was found to be large (2.1), indicating that BETY-BQ was responsive to change.

CONCLUSION

The BETY-Biopsychosocial Questionnaire was found to be reliable, valid, and sensitive to change in individuals with chronic neck pain. This study proposes a practical, easily accessible, low-cost, multi-dimensional, and self-reported biopsychosocial questionnaire for healthcare professionals to holistically evaluate individuals with chronic neck pain using a single form.

KEYWORDS: chronic pain, disability, physiotherapy, exercise, neck pain, BETY-BQ.