VALIDAÇÃO DA ESCALA DE PENSAMENTOS CATASTRÓFICOS SOBRE DOR EM PACIENTES COM DOR ONCOLÓGICA

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the Pain Catastrophic Thoughts Scale (PDSS) in patients with cancer pain. Methods: The research was conducted at the Maranhão Cancer Hospital and Aldenora Bello Hospital in the city of São Luís (Maranhão, northeastern Brazil). In addition to the PDSS, the following instruments were applied: Barthel Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPS). The measurement properties tested were reliability, internal consistency, structural validity and construct validity. Results: The sample consisted of 147 cancer patients. The mean age of the study subjects was ~48 years. Most of the sample was women (65.3%), married (53.1%) and with basic education (53.1%). Twenty-nine different types of cancer were identified, the most prevalent being cervical cancer (27.2%) and breast cancer (8.2%). Excellent test-retest reliability was observed (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.94), and internal consistency was considered acceptable (Cronbach's alpha of 0.78). The EPCD construct is valid, with a significant and positive correlation being observed between EPCD and the anxiety (rho = 0.65, p < 0.001) and depression (rho = 0.60, p < 0.001) domains of the EHAD, in addition to a significant and negative correlation with the Barthel Index (rho = -0.25 p = 0.002). For the NDS, we did not identify a significant correlation (rho = 0.123, p = 0.137) with the EPCD. There was no floor or ceiling effect, since the maximum or minimum score was not reached by more than 15% of the sample. Conclusion: The EPCD presented adequate measurement properties for assessing catastrophic thoughts about pain in patients with cancer pain, constituting a reliable and valid tool for assessing these patients.