Validity of the Brief Pain Inventory for Use in Documenting the Outcomes of Patients With Noncancer Pain

The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) is a short, self-administered questionnaire that was developed for use in cancer patients. While most empirical research with the BPI has been in pain of that etiology, the questionnaire is increasingly evident in published studies of patients with non-cancer pain. The current research addresses the need for formal evaluation of the reliability and validity of the BPI for use in non-cancer pain patients.

Approximately 250 patients with arthritis or low back pain (LBP) self-administered a number of generic and condition-specific health status measures (including the BPI) in the clinic of their primary care provider at 2 time points: the initial clinic visit and the first visit following treatment.