Testing the factorial validity of scores from the caregiver pain medicine questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
The Caregiver Pain Medicine Questionnaire is designed to measure caregiver agreement with statements regarding pain management. However, little testing has been done to determine its reliability and validity.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to test the factorial validity of scores from the Caregiver Pain Medicine Questionnaire as hypothesized by the original study authors.


METHODS
Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess whether the subscales postulated by the instrument authors could be replicated in external data.


RESULTS
Fit statistics reveal an unsatisfactory fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data.


CONCLUSIONS
The theoretical model hypothesized by the original study authors was not confirmed. Results lead us to conclude that the instrument is poor and should not be used. Further research is needed to define content domains and validate the items developed to assess them.
School of Social Work, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA. Electronic address: albrightd@missouri.edu.
David L
DL
Albright
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Robin L
RL
Kruse
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Debra Parker
DP
Oliver
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Karla
K
Washington
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
John
J
Cagle
School of Nursing & School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
George
G
Demiris
D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D059408:Pain Management / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000700:Analgesics
Caregiver Pain Medicine Questionnaire; factor analysis; hospice; pain management