What do Finnish physiotherapists and physiotherapy students know about the neurophysiology of pain? The Finnish version of the revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

Background

Understanding the concept of pain and its underlying biological mechanisms is an essential part of physiotherapists’ professional knowledge.

Objectives

The first aim of the study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire into Finnish (RNPQ-FI) and to evaluate its reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) in a sample of Finnish physiotherapists and physiotherapy students. The second aim was to compare the knowledge of pain neurophysiology between these two groups.

Methods

Translation and cross-cultural adaptation followed the COSMIN Study Design checklist. Participants (202 physiotherapists and 97 physiotherapy students) completed an online survey containing RNPQ-FI. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability using Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC_3,1).

Results

Cronbach’s alpha was 0.44 and ICC was 0.70 (p < .001). The mean percentage of correct responses was 61.4% for physiotherapists and 62.1% for students. Forty-seven percent of the physiotherapists and 35.1% of the students reported difficulties in understanding the items. A higher amount of pain education was associated with higher RNPQ-FI scores.

Conclusions

The RNPQ-FI showed low internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability among Finnish physiotherapists and physiotherapy students. Physiotherapists and students had equal amount of pain neurophysiology knowledge. Pain education is encouraged.

KEYWORDS:

• Pain neurophysiology knowledge
• pain education
• physiotherapy
• reliability
• revised neurophysiology of pain questionnaire

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr Mark Catley, Petteri Koho, Liisa Peltonen, and Leila Niemi-Murola for their contribution to the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri foundation [00200050].