An initial factor analysis of prominent aspects of health experiences for women with neck-shoulder pain

Abstract

Purpose: The prospect of adequate comparisons is essential to decide on the effectiveness of different treatments. As there is a lack of unity in choice of questionnaires and included measures concerning musculoskeletal disorders, further investigations based on international recommendations are of interest. The intention of present study was to initiate the development of a clinically useful short-form questionnaire. The aim was to select items that capture prominent health aspects for women with neck-shoulder pain and thereby reduce the number of items to a clinically more convenient amount, and to determine the underlying structure of included items. Method: Data were collected in a randomised controlled trial including women with non-specific neck-shoulder pain >3 months (n = 117). Data collection included three core domains: pain intensity, physical and emotional functioning, and analysis was performed using Principal component analysis, and Varimax rotation. Results: The resulting 9-factor solution included interference, solicitous/distracting responses, mood and feelings about self and relations, pain intensity, punishing responses, personal growth, life control, sleep, and appetite (29 items). Conclusions: The results will contribute to the development of a reduced battery of questions representing core dimensions. Such questionnaire would lighten the assessment load in the clinic as well as in research.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Despite the call for multidimensional evaluation of MSDs, measurement is often reduced to pain and disability.

• A lack of unity in choice of outcome measures limits the possibilities for comparisons and hinders the development of effective treatment methods.

• International recommendations regarding outcome measures can serve to unify evaluation.

• This study presents the first step in the development of a short-form questionnaire for evaluation of neck-shoulder pain, based on international recommendations for clinical evaluation of pain conditions

Keywords::

• Factor analysis
• health experiences
• neck
• outcome measures
• pain
• questionnaires
• shoulder
• women

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Hans Högberg, statistician at the Centre for Research and Development, County Council of Gävleborg/Uppsala University, for statistical advice and discussions regarding the outline, computation and results of analysis. The authors also would like to thank Maria Frykman for excellent administrative work. And finally, thanks to Marina Heiden, researcher at the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Gävle, for proof reading.

Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The study was funded by Alfta Research Foundation and by grants from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (2006–1162) and Länsförsäkringar Forskning och Framtid (51–1010/06).