THE SWEDISH KING'S PARKINSON'S DISEASE PAIN SCALE: VALIDATION AND PAIN PREVALENCE IN PERSONS WITH MILD-MODERATE SEVERITY PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Abstract

Objectives: To examine convergent and divergent validity of the King's Parkinson's disease Pain Scale - Swedish translated version, and to determine the prevalence of pain according to scale domains in persons with Parkinson's disease. Design: Cross-sectional, validation study. Patients: Ninety-seven persons with Parkinson's disease. Methods: The pain scale was translated into Swedish by an accredited company, and permission was granted to use the resultant version. Participants completed the rater-administered The King's Parkinson's disease Pain Scale - Swedish version, the visual analogue scale (pain), Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (bodily discomfort subscale), MiniBESTest and Walk-12G. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to assess the strength of associations. Results: The mean (standard deviation) age of participants was 71 (6.1) years, 63% were male, and 76% presented with mild disease severity. The mean (standard deviation) The King's Parkinson's disease Pain Scale - Swedish version score was 7.84 (12.8). A strong (r = 0.65) and moderate (r = 0.45) association was found between the newly-translated version and visual analogue scale (pain) and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire - bodily discomfort subscale, respectively. Weak associations were found between the newly translated version and divergent measures. Overall pain prevalence was 57%, with musculoskeletal pain being the most common, followed by chronic and radicular pain. Conclusion: This study affirms aspects of validity of the Swedish King's Parkinson's disease Pain Scale. Most participants presented with 1 or more types of pain, highlighting the need for targeted interventions.