Initial psychometric evaluation of the Korean version of the Canine Brief Pain Inventory for canine osteoarthritis.

Abstract

Importance: Accurate assessment of osteoarthritis-related pain in dogs requires validated, language-specific clinical metrology instruments. The absence of a Korean version of the widely used Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI) limits standardized pain assessment and outcome evaluation in Korean-speaking clinical and research settings.

Objective: This study aimed to develop and perform an initial psychometric evaluation of the Korean version of the CBPI.

Methods: This observational cross-sectional study included 56 dogs with osteoarthritis and 22 healthy controls. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman correlations between CBPI scores and the owner-reported quality-of-life item. Discriminant validity was evaluated through group comparisons between dogs with osteoarthritis and healthy controls. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's α.

Results: Exploratory analysis identified a dominant general pain factor (eigenvalue = 8.04; 80.4% variance). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated superior relative fit for the two-factor model (χ²/df = 2.94, comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.917, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.186, standardized root mean square residual = 0.044) compared with the one-factor model (χ²/df = 4.13, CFI = 0.861, RMSEA = 0.236). CBPI scores showed significant negative correlations with quality of life in dogs with osteoarthritis (ρ = -0.516 to -0.485; corresponding 95% confidence intervals ranged from -0.710 to -0.248; p < 0.001). Dogs with osteoarthritis had higher CBPI total scores than healthy controls (median, 18.0 vs. 0; p < 0.001). Cronbach's α coefficients ranged from 0.951 to 0.968.

Conclusions and relevance: The Korean CBPI demonstrated excellent internal consistency and preliminary evidence of construct validity for assessing osteoarthritis-related pain in dogs, supporting its use as an owner-reported outcome measure in Korean-speaking clinical and research settings. Future longitudinal studies should evaluate its test-retest reliability and responsiveness to treatment.