Conceptualization of pain in Croatian adults: a cross-sectional and psychometric study.

Abstract

Aim: To ascertain whether Croatian respondents' knowledge on pain aligns with modern pain science, and determine the measurement properties of the Croatian version of the Concept of Pain Inventory for Adults (COPI-Adult).

Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey was used to collect the respondents' sociodemographic, clinical, and COPI-Adult (CRO) data (n = 509). A Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to assess the correlations between sociodemographic, clinical, and COPI-Adult (CRO) data. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's coefficient, based on classical test theory, were used to determine the measurement properties of the questionnaire.

Results: The average COPI-Adult (CRO) score was 35.91 ± 5.8 out of 52 and it was similar in respondents with (36.52±6.01) and without (35.36±5.57) formal medical/health care education. Respondents exhibited a reductionist understanding of pain as a result of structural damage. Higher COPI-Adult scores were very weakly correlated with formal medical/health care education, younger age, lower pain intensity, higher pain knowledge self-assessment, and higher education level. Formal medical education significantly moderately correlated with pain knowledge self-assessment (r=-0.425; P<0.001). One-factor COPI-Adult (CRO) model revealed significant factor loadings of each item (P<0.001) and good internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.803).

Conclusions: Croatian respondents' concept of pain aligns with their objective knowledge, but only partially with modern pain science. This indicates the need to bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary understandings of pain in the Croatian population. One-factor COPI-Adult (CRO) inventory serves as the first questionnaire for assessing the concept of pain among Croatian adults.