The self-administered 24-item geriatric pain measure (GPM-24-SA): psychometric properties in three European populations of community-dwelling older adults.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the feasibility and psychometric properties of a self-administered version of the 24-item Geriatric Pain Measure (GPM-24-SA).


METHODS
Secondary analysis of baseline data from the Prevention in Older People-Assessment in Generalists' practices trial, an international multi-center study of a health-risk appraisal system.


METHODS
One thousand seventy-two community dwelling nondisabled older adults self-reporting pain from London, UK; Hamburg, Germany; and Solothurn, Switzerland.


METHODS
GPM-24-SA as part of a multidimensional Health Risk Appraisal Questionnaire including self-reported demographic and health-related information.


RESULTS
Among the 1,072 subjects, 655 had complete GPM-24-SA data, 404 had <or=30% missing GPM-24-SA data, and 13 had >30% missing GPM-24-SA data. In psychometric analyses across the three European populations with complete GPM-24-SA data, the measure exhibited stable internal consistency, good convergent, divergent and discriminant validity, and produced stable pain measurements. However, factor analysis indicated differences in the GPM-24-SA across sites with discrepancies mainly related to items of a single subscale that failed to load appropriately. Analyses including imputation for subjects with <or=30% missing data demonstrated psychometric properties comparable to complete data analyses suggesting that imputation in cases with <or=30% missing GPM-24-SA data provides sufficient information to generate a valid score.


CONCLUSIONS
The GPM-24-SA is a promising tool for self-administered assessment of pain in community dwelling older adults. However, because of incomplete response and uncertainty in factor structure, further refinement and psychometric evaluation of the GPM-24-SA is needed before it could be recommended for widespread use.
Clough-Gorr
Kerri M
KM
Department of Geriatrics, Inselspital Bern, University Hospital and Spital Netz Bern Ziegler and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Blozik
Eva
E
Gillmann
Gerhard
G
Beck
John C
JC
Ferrell
Bruce A
BA
Anders
Jennifer
J
Harari
Danielle
D
Stuck
Andreas E
AE
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology