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Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) Pain Severity Subscale
Availability
Please visit this website for more information about the instrument: Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) Pain Severity Subscale
Classification
Supplemental: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
 
Exploratory: SCI-Pediatric (age 12 and over)
Short Description of Instrument
The MPI is used to assess the behavioral and psychophysiological factors associated with chronic pain. Items are completed by questionnaire or interview. The scale is composed of three sections: 1) pain impact; 2) responses of others to the expression of pain; and 3) daily activity participation. Pain severity falls under the first section. The three questions that make up the pain severity subscale are: On the average, how severe has your pain been during the last week?; Rate the level of your pain at the present moment.; How much suffering do you experience because of your pain?
Scoring
Score is reported as a mean of the items that are completed.
Comments/Special Instructions
Younger children under the age of 12 may have difficulties completing the subscale due to problems summarizing pain severity over a week.
 
Adequate test-retest reliability for Pain Severity (ICC = 0.69). Adequate internal consistency for Pain Severity (Cronbach a = 0.76). Excellent correlation of Pain Severity subscale with Numeric Rating Scale for pain intensity (r = 0.61). (Widerstrom-Noga et al., 2006).
 
SCI-Pediatric-specific:
Given that pain severity is really intended to refer to a broader concept (e.g., suffering) the MPI Pain Severity Subscale is likely only appropriate for older children.
References
More information available at Rehabilitation Measures Database Website
 
WiderstrÖm-Noga EG, Cruz-Almeida Y, Martinez-Arizala A,& Turk DC. Internal consistency, stability, and validity of the spinal cord injury version of the multidimensional pain inventory. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2006; 87(4), 516-523.
 
WiderstrÖm-Noga EG, Duncan R, Felipe-Cuervo E,& Turk DC. Assessment of the impact of pain and impairments associated with spinal cord injuries. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2002; 83(3), 395-404.

 

Document last updated December 2019