Measurement properties of painDETECT by average pain severity

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics by neuropathic pain severity

Characteristic	Milda (n=110)	Moderatea (n=297)	Severea (n=207)	P-valueb
Age, years, mean (SD)	58.3 (15.1)	55.7 (13.2)	53.6 (13.3)	0.0293
Sex, n (%)				0.0222
Male	71 (64.5)	169 (56.9)	101 (48.8)
Female	39 (35.5)	128 (43.1)	106 (51.2)
Race, n (%)				0.0015
American Indian or Alaska native	1 (0.9)	3 (1.0)	5 (2.4)
Asian	1 (0.9)	2 (0.7)	2 (1.0)
Black or African American	13 (11.8)	37 (12.5)	47 (22.7)
White	89 (80.9)	230 (77.4)	122 (58.9)
Multiracial	2 (1.8)	4 (1.3)	5 (2.4)
Other	3 (2.7)	15 (5.1)	22 (10.6)
Missing	1 (0.9)	6 (2.0)	4 (1.9)
Ethnicity, n (%)				0.0151
Non-Hispanic	100 (90.9)	266 (89.6)	168 (81.2)
Hispanic	5 (4.5)	21 (7.1)	27 (13.0)
Missing	5 (4.5)	10 (3.4)	12 (5.8)
BPI-SF pain-severity index, mean (SD)	2.0 (1.1)	5.2 (0.8)	7.7 (1.1)	NA
Time since NeP diagnosis, years, mean (SD)	6.3 (5.9)	7.9 (6.8)	8.5 (7.2)	0.0059
Number of comorbid conditions, mean (SD)	2.0 (1.8)	2.5 (2.2)	3.3 (2.4)	<0.0001
Neuropathic pain condition, n (%)				NA
Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (n=111)	22 (20.0)	57 (19.2)	32 (15.5)
Human immunodeficiency virus-related peripheral NeP (n=102)	24 (21.8)	41 (13.8)	37 (17.9)
Posttrauma/postsurgical NeP (n=97)	14 (12.7)	48 (16.2)	35 (16.9)
Spinal cord injury-related NeP (n=101)	21 (19.1)	53 (17.8)	27 (13.0)
NeP in chronic low-back pain (n=104)	6 (5.5)	55 (18.5)	43 (20.8)
Small-fiber neuropathy (n=99)	23 (20.9)	43 (14.5)	33 (15.9)
painDETECT completion, n (%)				NA
Nine-item version	106 (96.4)	291 (98.0)	198 (95.7)
Seven-item version	108 (98.2)	292 (98.3)	206 (99.5)

Notes:

a Average pain severity was classified based on the Brief Pain Inventory – Short Form scores of 0–3 for mild, 4–6 for moderate, and 7–10 for severe pain

b P-values across pain-severity levels are from the Kruskal–Wallis test for continuous variables; from the χ² test for number of comorbid conditions, and from Fisher’s exact test for the remaining categorical variables.

Abbreviations: NA, not applicable; SD, standard deviation; BPI-SF, Brief Pain Inventory – Short Form; NeP, Neuropathic Pain.

Figure 1 (A–D) Mean painDETECT scores across pain-severity categories for average pain. (A) Nine-item unadjusted scores; (B) nine-item adjusted scores; (C) seven-item unadjusted scores; (D) seven-item adjusted scores.

Table 2 Standardized effect sizes for pair-wise comparisons of painDETECT scores

Comparison between average pain-severity levels	Standardized effect sizea
	Nine-item version		Seven-item version
	Unadjusted	Adjusted	Unadjusted	Adjusted
Mild versus moderate	−0.65	−0.56	−0.63	−0.55
Mild versus severe	−1.25	−1.13	−1.23	−1.12
Moderate versus severe	−0.60	−0.57	−0.60	−0.57

Note:

a Negative values represent less neuropathic pain in the group with the lower level of average pain severity.

Figure 2 Cumulative frequency distribution by average pain severity for (A) nine-item painDETECT scores and (B) seven-item painDETECT scores.

Table 3 Corrected item-to-total correlations for the nine- and seven-item painDETECT

painDETECT item	Nine-item version	Seven-item version
Burning sensation	0.48	0.51
Tingle or prickling sensation	0.59	0.61
Light touching painful	0.60	0.62
Sudden pain attacks like electric shocks	0.49	0.50
Cold or heat painful	0.55	0.54
Sensation of numbness	0.45	0.48
Slight pressure triggers pain	0.49	0.49
Pain radiation	0.21	–
Pain course	−0.08	–