Objective: To develop and validate a knee pain scale (KPS) for use with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
Methods: Patients with documented evidence of knee OA completed the KPS and a test battery including measures of physical functioning, physical performance, and depression. Analyses were conducted to confirm the 4-factor structure of the measure, determine alpha reliabilities, assess the test-retest reliability, and examine the construct validity of the KPS.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the KPS has 4 subscales, including frequency and intensity of pain experienced during both ambulation/climbing and transfer activities. All reliabilities were in excess of 0.80 and the subscales of the KPS shared expected variance with both self-reported and objective indices of dysfunction.
Conclusion: The KPS has good psychometric properties for assessing pain experienced in conjunction with the performance of activities of daily living. Although at present it is a research tool, with further study it should prove valuable in clinical practice as well.