A Short Version of the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS-20): Preliminary Development and Validity

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Research has shown significant relations between fear and avoidance of pain and the suffering and disability of chronic pain. Effective measurement tools have formed the foundation for studying these relations.METHODS:The present article describes the initial development and validation of the PASS-20, a short form version of the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS). Like the original inventory, the PASS-20 measures fear and anxiety responses specific to pain. Items were selected for the short version based on item variance, item intercorrelation and reliability analyses.RESULTS:The PASS-20 shows strong internal consistency, reliability, and good predictive and construct validity. Item reduction appears to result in minimal shrinkage of validity correlations.CONCLUSIONS:Overall, the results suggest that the short form retains adequate psychometric properties. Possible research and clinical implications for the PASS-20 include more efficient screening during evaluations of patients with chronic pain, and use when the time or effort needed for the full version is prohibitive.