Psychometric testing in Portuguese of Helsinki’s chronic pain index for dogs with chronic signs of osteoarthritis

ABSTRACT We aimed to determine validity, reliability, and sensitivity of Helsinki’s chronic pain index (HCPI) and stablish a correlation between HCPI in dogs with hip dysplasia (HD) using pressure sensitive walkway. Forty-owners of dogs with HD and 16 owners of health dogs filled a questionnaire. Dogs with HD were treated with carprofen 4.4mg/kg (GT n= 21) or with placebo (GP n= 19), both were administered once a day for 4 weeks. Evaluation was performed by the owners using the questionnaire (HCPI), the Visual Analogue Scale for pain (VASpain) and the VAS for locomotion (VASloc). The evaluation was performed 2 weeks before the treatment began (A1), immediately after treatment (A2), two (S2), four (S4) and two weeks after the end of treatment (S6) and the lameness was evaluated by pressure sensitive walkway. The internal consistency of the data was considered excellent (Cronbach´α coefficient= 0.89). There was a moderate correlation between the HCPI and VASpain. For VASloc the correlation was good. However, there was no difference between treatments, indicating low sensibility. No correlation was observed between pressure sensitive walkway and HCPI. We concluded that the questionnaire has construct and criterion validity, reliability and can be applied in dogs with osteoarthritis in Portuguese-speaking countries.

摘要 本研究旨在评估赫尔辛基慢性疼痛指数（Helsinki’s Chronic Pain Index，HCPI）的效度、信度与灵敏度，并利用压力感应步道探究患有髋关节发育不良（HD）的犬的HCPI评分间的相关性。共40名髋关节发育不良患犬的主人与16名健康犬主人填写了调查问卷。将患犬分为卡洛芬组（GT，n=21，给药剂量为4.4mg/kg）与安慰剂组（GP，n=19），两组均每日给药1次，连续给药4周。评估由犬主通过调查问卷（HCPI）、疼痛视觉模拟评分量表（VASpain）以及运动功能视觉模拟评分量表（VASloc）完成，评估时间点分别为治疗开始前2周（A1）、治疗结束即刻（A2）、治疗结束后2周（S2）、治疗结束后4周（S4）以及治疗结束后2周（S6）；同时通过压力感应步道评估犬只跛行情况。数据的内部一致性极佳（克朗巴哈α系数=0.89）。HCPI与VASpain评分间呈中等程度相关，与VASloc评分的相关性良好。但两组治疗方式间未发现显著差异，提示该量表灵敏度较低。压力感应步道检测结果与HCPI评分间未观察到相关性。本研究最终认为，该调查问卷具备结构效度与效标效度，且具有良好的信度，可应用于葡语国家的骨关节炎患犬评估。