Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
system, and skin. Over half of the sample (50.7%) had metastasis.
Two thirds of clients (66.7%) knew about their cancer diagnosis.
The majority of the sample (98.7%) reported having pain other
than minor everyday pains, occurring most frequently in the
abdomen, back, lower extremities, or a combination of areas. The
mean pain rating during the past 24 hours at its worst was 8.42 (SD
= 1.33) and at its least 3.10 (SD = 1.56). The mean pain severity
on average was 5.30 (SD = 1.66); for pain right now, the mean was
4.22 (SD = 2.00). The interference items had mean ratings ranging
between 5.29 and 7.02 (SD = 1.95 to 2.47). All clients reported
receiving pain medications, with opioids the most frequently used
(46.6%) alone or in combination with other drugs. The majority of
clients (78.4%) reported more than 50% pain relief with
treatments.
The cultural sensitivity of the Arabic BPI was evaluated by a panel
of oncology physicians and nurses, and a pain specialist. The items
were rated on a 4-point scale (1 = Not at all culturally sensitive to 4
= very culturally sensitive). The mean rating was 3.8 for all items,
suggesting that the tool was culturally sensitive.
The reliability of the Arabic BPI was tested with Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient. The values were 0.82 for the severity items and 0.92 for
the interference items.
Construct validity was assessed by factor analysis using the
principal component method with varimax rotation. The items
loaded on two factors, with a structure replicating the dimensions of
severity and interference reported in previous studies. Convergent
validity was assessed by correlating the mean of the item inquiring
about pain now in the Arabic BPI with that of the Visual Analog
Scale; Pearson r = 0.680 (p= 0.00)
Correlations between the severity and interference items were
positive and significant, with Pearson r values ranging between
0.246-0.569 (p