Psychometric evaluation of the canine brief pain inventory in a Swedish sample of dogs with pain related to osteoarthritis

Abstract

BackgroundTo evaluate intervention, implement evidence-based practice and enhance the welfare of dogs with naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA), access to valid, reliable and clinically relevant outcome measures is crucial for researchers, veterinarians and rehabilitation practitioners. The objectives of the present study were to translate and evaluate psychometric properties, in terms of internal consistency and construct validity, of the owner-reported measure canine brief pain inventory (CBPI) in a Swedish sample of dogs with pain related to OA.ResultsTwenty-one owners of clinically sound dogs and 58 owners of dogs with pain related to OA were included in this observational and cross-sectional study. After being translated according to the guidelines for patient-reported outcome measures, the CBPI was completed by the canine owners. Construct validity was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis, by repeating the principal component analysis and by assessing for differences between clinically sound dogs and dogs with pain related to OA. Internal consistency was estimated by Cronbach’s α. Confirmatory factor analysis was not able to confirm the factor-structure models tested in our sample. Principal component analysis showed a two-component structure, pain severity and pain interference of function. Two components accounted for 76.8% of the total variance, suggesting an acceptable fit of a two-component structure. The ratings from the clinically sound dogs differed from OA dogs and showed significantly lower CBPI total sum. Cronbach’s α was 0.94 for the total CBPI, 0.91 for the pain severity and 0.91 for the pain interference of function.ConclusionsThe results indicate that the translated version of the CBPI is valid for use in the Swedish language. The findings suggest satisfying psychometric properties in terms of high internal consistencies and ability to discriminate clinically sound dogs from OA dogs. However, based on the confirmatory factor analysis, the original factor structure in the CBPI is not ideally suited to measure pain related to OA in our sample and the hypothesis of the presented two-factor structure was rejected. Further research needs to be conducted to determine whether the original psychometric results from CBPI can be replicated across different target groups and particularly with larger sample size.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13028-017-0311-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Review of different methods used for clinical recognition and assessment of pain in dogs and cats

“…(a) Cats. There are reports of the reduction of animal activity, appetite loss, tend to hide or evade interaction and may perform excessive licking of the affected area, interfering with their normal grooming ( Figure 3(a, b) [54,56]). When cats experience severe pain, it is also possible to observe a rigid posture [57].…”

“…However, if the intensity of the pain is high, behaviours such as vocalizations, increased production of tears, constant touching of the affected area, wandering, and guardian-like behaviours may be observed [43,59]. Specific body postures are also identified in dogs with acute abdominal pain, known as the "prayer" position, which consists in raising their hindquarters and keeping their heads and front limbs on the floor (Figure 3(d)) [39,56].…”

Adaptation of the Canine Orthopaedic Index to evaluate chronic elbow osteoarthritis in Swedish dogs

“…Cronbach α values range from 0 to 1.0, it is a coefficient and describes the average inter-correlations among items. Items with loadings > 0.7 were considered to have good reliability [5, 7, 16, 23]. SAS was used for all statistical analysis [SAS Institute Inc. (2014): SAS/Stat User’s Guide.…”

“…Several validated owner questionnaires evaluating OA in dogs exist today including the Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs (LOAD), the Canine Orthopaedic Index (COI), the Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI) and the Helsinki Chronic Pain Index (HCPI) [3, 5–10]. The protocols may differ slightly, but mainly they have a similar format [6, 7, 9, 11].…”

Long-Term Prognosis of Quality of Life in Dogs Diagnosed With Mild to Moderate Elbow Dysplasia in Sweden

“…To assess a larger population of dogs for lameness (with or without chronic OA), owner questionnaires can be used as an alternative to clinical assessment and objective measurements ( 18 – 23 ). Several validated owner questionnaires evaluating OA in dogs exist, including the Canine Orthopedic Index (COI), Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs (LOAD), the canine brief pain inventory (CBPI), and the Helsinki chronic pain index (HCPI) ( 20 , 21 , 23 – 26 ).…”