Reliability and aspects of validity of the Swedish version of self-efficacy for exercise scale for patients with chronic pain

ABSTRACT

Background

Active, specific, and professionally led physical exercise is an effective treatment for chronic pain, and self-efficacy is correlated to positive treatment outcomes. At present, there is limited knowledge of self-efficacy for exercise in patients with chronic pain.

Purpose

To evaluate the reliability and aspects of validity of the Swedish version of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale (SEE-SV) in patients with chronic pain.

Methods

Patients with chronic pain were recruited from a specialist clinic. The Swedish version of the SEE was used. Reliability was evaluated through internal consistency, test-retest, and measurement error (standard error of measurement, SEM and smallest detectable change, SDC). Construct validity was calculated using the correlation between the SEE-SV and other well-established evaluation instruments. Content validity was evaluated both from a patient and a health-care professional perspective.

Results

In total, 44 patients, 31 women and 13 men (mean age 40 years), participated in the study. The SEE-SV had good test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.95) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.97). Regarding measurement error, SEM was 4.9 and SDC 13.5. Moderate correlation was seen between SEE-SV and a pain-specific self-efficacy questionnaire (rs = 0.52). The majority of patients and health-care professionals considered the SEE-SV to be relevant and easy to understand.

Conclusion

The SEE-SV showed a good internal consistency, item-to-total correlation, and test-retest reliability (ICC). A relatively high SDC indicates an individual variability of the test results. The content validity was satisfactory. Regarding the construct validity, further studies are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Exercise
• pain
• physiotherapy
• reliability
• self-efficacy
• validity

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra, Gothenburg, Sweden, and the local research and development board of Gothenburg and Södra Bohuslän. We would like to thank Nils-Gunnar Pehrsson, medical statistician, for his expert professional advice. We would also like to thank Professor Mats Börjesson, Associate Professor Daniel Arvidsson and PhD student Jonathan Fridolfsson for excellent support with accelerometer distribution and calculations. Finally, we acknowledge the support of the participating patients and professionals and the physiotherapists at the Pain Centre/Physiotherapy whose work made this study possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the local research and development board of Gothenburg and Södra Bohuslän.