Table 2.
Rotated factor matrix of the final version of the CPMS (n = 1555).
| Unvalidated English translation of the 26 items of the French-Canadian CPMS∗ | Factors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| (1) [Really have pain, it's not in their head] | ,44 | ,25 | −,01 |
| (2) [Just want to be prescribed drugs] | ,72 | ,10 | ,03 |
| (3) [Seek sick leaves to stop working] | ,84 | ,06 | ,03 |
| (4) [Just want to laze and do not accomplish their daily tasks] | ,83 | ,14 | ,06 |
| (5) [Complain of pain to get attention from others] | ,79 | ,06 | −,03 |
| (6) [Really want to get better] | ,49 | ,19 | −,04 |
| (7) [Complain about their pain, but continue their activities (e.g., sports, snowmobile). Their pain should not be that bad] | ,46 | ,20 | ,06 |
| (8) [Become dependent to their medications such as drug addicts] | ,35 | ,02 | ,08 |
| (9) [Often tend to exaggerate the severity of their condition] | ,62 | ,14 | ,00 |
| (10) [Chronic pain causes several physical symptoms (e.g., muscle tension, change in appetite, reduced mobility, fatigue)] | ,33 | ,46 | ,11 |
| (11) [Chronic pain can have a direct impact on sexual life] | ,20 | ,43 | ,08 |
| (12) [People with chronic pain are sometimes rejected by their relatives] | ,09 | ,55 | ,14 |
| (13) [Chronic pain may be associated with negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger or sadness)] | ,14 | ,49 | ,08 |
| (14) [People with chronic pain tend not to isolate themselves] | ,23 | ,43 | ,13 |
| (15) [People with chronic pain usually have more difficulty to resist stressful events of everyday life] | ,08 | ,42 | ,06 |
| (16) [The risk of death by suicide is higher among people with chronic pain than in the general population] | ,08 | ,52 | ,03 |
| (17) [Chronic pain costs billions of dollars to our society] | −,08 | ,40 | ,14 |
| (18) [People with chronic pain do not always have access to healthcare services to treat their condition] | ,16 | ,44 | ,09 |
| (19) [Doctors lack time to treat chronic pain]. | ,06 | ,42 | ,07 |
| (20) [Consulting a psychologist is useless unless the person with chronic pain is depressed] | ,07 | ,19 | ,41 |
| (21) [There is not much to do to improve chronic pain] | ,09 | ,11 | ,42 |
| (22) [Good sleeping habits help reduce chronic pain] | −,10 | ,27 | ,61 |
| (23) [A balanced diet helps to reduce chronic pain] | −,12 | ,22 | ,60 |
| (24) [Doing physical exercise may aggravate chronic pain] | ,08 | ,02 | ,58 |
| (25) [Working may aggravate chronic pain] | ,02 | −,12 | ,52 |
| (26) [The treatment of chronic pain is in the hands of health care professionals and not those of the patient] | ,06 | ,26 | ,42 |
|
| |||
| Eigenvalues before rotation | 5.48 | 3.08 | 1.86 |
|
| |||
| Percentage of variance explained after rotation | 15.47 | 9.78 | 7.58 |
|
| |||
| Cronbach's α (items included in each factor) ∗∗ | 0.82 | 0.74 | 0.72 |
|
| |||
| Descriptive statistics | |||
| Mean score ± SD | 39.95 ± 4.32 | 41.64 ± 4.84 | 27.25 ± 4.28 |
| Median (range) | 41 (17–45) | 42 (19–50) | 27 (7–35) |
| Possible scores | 9–45 | 10–50 | 7–35 |
| % of respondents who achieved the lowest possible score | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.06% |
| % of respondents who achieved the highest possible score | 15.50% | 4.31% | 4.50% |
Bold type indicates primary factor loading for each item.
Factor 1: knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards people suffering from CP.
Factor 2: knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards biopsychosocial impacts of CP.
Factor 3: knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards treatment of CP.
CP: chronic pain; CPMS: Chronic Pain Myth Scale.
∗For publication purposes, an unvalidated English translation of the 26 items of the CPMS is presented. The validated French-Canadian version of the items can be found in the appendix.
∗∗Cronbach's α ≥ 0.7 = adequate internal consistency for research purposes.