Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Greek version

Introduction: The Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ) was developed to assess general pain sensitivity.

Objective: This study aimed to validate the Greek version of PSQ.

Methods: The questionnaire was translated into Greek (PSQ-GR) and piloted in a small sample of patients with chronic pain (n = 35). A total of 146 chronic pain patients and healthy volunteers completed the PSQ-GR, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI). To evaluate the test-retest reliability, 36 volunteers completed the PSQ-GR twice over 7 ± 2 days.

Results: Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha 0.90-0.96) for PSQ-total, PSQ-minor, and PSQ-moderate. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was estimated at 0.90-0.96 for PSQ-total, PSQ-minor and PSQ-moderate and the SEM was 0.59-0.90 for PSQ-total, PSQ-minor and PSQ-moderate approximately. The smallest detectable change was 0.48 for PSQ-total, 0.47 for PSQ-minor and 0.44 for PSQ-moderate. Positive and significant correlations were observed between PSQ-GR and HADS (r = 0.38, p < 0.01), PCS (r = 0.41, p < 0.01) and CSI (r = 0.30, p < 0.01). Statistically significant differences in PSQ-GR scores were identified between the healthy volunteers and the chronic pain patients.

Conclusion: The PSQ-GR is a reliable and valid tool that can assess pain sensitivity in healthy individuals and chronic musculoskeletal pain patients.