Chronic pain beliefs: validation of the survey of pain atittudes for the portuguese language

Abstract

This study validated the Survey of Pain Attitudes - brief version (SOPA) for the Portuguese language. Sixty-nine Brazilian patients were evaluated. Patients were female (71%), the mean age was 50.8 years (±15.4), the mean schooling was 7.4 years (±4.8), and the most frequent pain etiologies were: musculoskeletal (39.1%), cancer-related (34.8%), and neuropathic (20.3%). Factorial analysis produced seven domains (Control, Harm, Disability, Medical Cure, Emotion, Medication, Solicitude), as in the original instrument. Indices of reliability tests (µ Chronbach) ranged from .55 to .89, values that are accepted as moderate and good. The Portuguese language version showed conceptual equivalence to the English language version. The availability of SOPA-brief version in Portuguese may contribute for the improvement of research and clinical practices on chronic pain.