Validation and reliability of the German version of the Chronic Pain Grade questionnaire in primary care back pain patients

In 1992 Von Korff and his co-workers developed a simple, brief questionnaire to assess the severity of chronic pain problems, the Chronic Pain Grade (CPG). The present study was conducted to analyse the psychometric properties of the translated German version of the CPG within a population of primary care back pain patients (n=130). Factor analysis yielded two factors which accounted for 72% of the variance of the questionnaire. The first factor 'Disability Score' (53.56% of the variance) revealed a good internal consistency (alpha=.88), the internal consistency of the second factor 'Characteristic Pain Intensity' was moderate (alpha=.68). The reliability of the whole instrument was good (alpha=.82). The CPG and its subscales show moderate to high relations with other instruments assessing the patient's disability (FFbH-R, Pain Disability Index PDI). Additionally weak to moderate but significant correlations were found between the CPG and other measures of grading and staging chronic pain (MPSS, RGS). Further, positive correlations between the CPG and both, the frequency of doctor visits and the frequent use of pain medication have been seen. The reported findings suggest, that the German version of the CPG is a reliable, valid and useful instrument if a brief, simple method of grading the severity of chronic pain is needed. The German version leads to a better comparability between German and English language studies and facilitates an international collaboration in this field of research.