DEVELOPING A TRANSLATION OF THE MCGILL PAIN QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CROSS-CULTURAL-COMPARISON - AN EXAMPLE FROM NORWAY

The ability to measure pain across diverse cultures is important for u nderstanding the universal aspects of pain and expediting nursing inte rvention. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) is the most valid and re liable single multidimensional pain instrument available for measuring pain. Although it has been translated in several languages, most effo rts, including two Norwegian translations, have resulted in a variety of new versions, all lacking sufficient faithfulness to the original M PQ to allow qualitative or quantitative cross-cultural comparisons. Th ere is a need for direct translations that maintain the original denot ation, connotation and numerical value of the MPQ and thus provide a b ase for future cross-cultural studies of pain. This paper reports on t he development and initial testing of a direct translation of the McGi ll Pain Questionnaire into Norwegian (NMPQ). The translation process i nvolved three phases: translation, back-translation and consensual. In order to evaluate its performance and validity, the NMPQ was administ ered to a group of adult surgical patients at two different points in time during the postoperative period. The NMPQ was examined for its fe asibility, its sensitivity in detecting decreases in intensity of pain postoperatively and for construct validity. A visual analogue scale w as used to check for converging validity, and Spielberger's state anxi ety scale was used to assess discriminate validity. The initial testin g of the NMPQ with adult surgical patients suggests that the NMPQ is c ulturally acceptable, relevant, sensitive to fluctuations in pain and numerically consistent with the original MPQ. The moderate levels of v alidity attained lend considerable assurance to the instrument's readi ness for use in cross-cultural studies of pain.