The development of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire. An assessment of the impact of spinal pain on behavior.

The Dallas Pain Questionnaire (DPQ) was developed to assess the amount of chronic spinal pain that affects four aspects (daily and work-leisure activities, anxiety-depression, and social interest) of the patients' lives. Results of the DPQ's statistical properties suggest that the DPQ is an externally reliable instrument as well as internally consistent. Two factors emerged from factor structure analysis. Factor 1 represents functional activities and Factor 2 represents emotional capacities. A correlation analysis suggests the concurrent validity of the psychological functional factors of the DPQ. A t test demonstrated that chronic pain patients have significantly higher DPQ scores than normals. Because these findings support its statistical properties, the DPQ appears to have utility for clinical and research purposes. The findings, limitations, and implications of this study are detailed, as are suggestions for future research.