ARTICLES Examining the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire in Chronic Pain Renee M. Williams, Eleni G. Hapidou, Chia-Yu A. Lin, and Hira Abbasi ABSTRACT Purpose: This study examined the relationships of a readiness to adopt a self-management approach to chronic pain, measured by the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire (PSOCQ), with other pain-related scales in patients attending a chronic pain management program and determined if these measures changed from admission to discharge. The PSOCQ consists of four stages: Pre- contemplation, Contemplation, Action and Maintenance. Method: A convenience sample of 140 patients (mean age 5 43.8 years; SD 5 8.3 years) with chronic pain completed the PSOCQ, the Pain Disability Index (PDI), the Pain Intensity Scale (PIS), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) at admission and discharge. The MHLC consists of three subscales: Internal, Chance and Powerful Others. Results: At discharge, Pearson correlation coefficients demonstrated that Pre-contemplation was positively associated with the PDI, the PIS and the CES-D and negatively associated with Internal MHLC, whereas Action and Maintenance showed the opposite findings. There were significant improvements in all measures, except the MHLC, over the four-week program. Conclusions: These findings provide support for the use of the PSOCQ in assessing patients’ readiness to adopt a self-management approach to pain and in monitoring their progress in rehabilitation. Key words: chronic pain, multidisciplinary chronic pain program, Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire, readiness to change, stages of change Williams RM, Hapidou EG, Lin CA, Abbasi H. Examining the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire in Chronic Pain. Physiother Can 2007;59:132-41. RE ´ SUME ´ Objectif: Cette e ´ tude a examine ´ la relation entre la volonte ´ d’adopter une approche d’auto-gestion de la douleur chronique, mesure ´e par le Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire (PSOCQ) et d’autres e ´ chelles lie ´es a ` la douleur chez des patients participant a ` un programme de prise en charge de la douleur chronique et a de ´ termine ´ si ces mesures se sont modifie ´ es entre l’admission et la fin de l’e ´ tude. Le questionnaire PSOCQ comprend quatre e ´ tapes : Pre ´ -de ´ cision, De ´ cision, Action et Maintien. Me ´ thodologie: Un e ´ chantillon de 140 patients (a ˆ ge moyen 5 43,8 ans; E ´ T 5 8,3 ans) souffrant de douleur chronique a rempli les instruments d’e ´ valuation suivants : PSOCQ, Pain Disability Index (PDI), Pain Intensity Scale (PIS), Center for Epidemiologic Studies- Depression Scale (CES-D) et Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) a ` l’admission dans l’e ´ tude et a ` la fin de l’e ´ tude. L’e ´ chelle MHLC ou e ´ chelle du lieu de contro ˆ le multidimentionnel de la sante ´ comprend trois sous-e ´ chelles : Internalite ´ , Chance et Pouvoir des autres. Renee M. Williams, PhD: Professor, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. Eleni G. Hapidou, PhD: Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, and Psychologist, Chronic Pain Management Unit, Chedoke Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ont. Chia-Yu A. Lin, M.Sc.: Research Coordinator, CanChild: Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University. At the time of the study, she was a candidate in the Master of Science Program, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. Hira Abbasi, B.Sc.: At the time of the study, she was a candidate in the Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. Address for correspondence: Renee M. Williams, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, 1400 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ont, L8S 1C7; Tel: 905-525-9140 extension 27823; Fax: 905-524-0069; E- mail: rwilliam@mcmaster.ca. DOI 10.2310/6640.2007.00006 132