Abstract
BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals' attitudes and knowledge regarding pain management may compromise the treatment of pain. The study aimed to develop a concise tool for studying attitudes and knowledge related to pain treatment in clinical care. METHODS: The Kuopio questionnaire, consisting of 18 attitude items and 7 true/false knowledge questions, was utilized. Responses were obtained from 108 healthcare professionals using Surveypal. Exploratory factor analysis was executed to assess reliability and validity. Data on the respondents' age, gender, and work experience were used to assess convergent/divergent validity through multivariable analysis. The test-retest reliability was tested separately by emailing the questionnaire to 10 professionals twice in 2 weeks and we got 7 responses. RESULTS: Factor analysis identified 7 factors with good reliability (mean Cronbach's alpha value of 0.6). The nurses´ and physicians´ attitudes and knowledge regarding pain relief were good. Reporting undertreatment of pain as a safety incident was found to be an important novel item in the questionnaire. Respondents´ work experience, gender, and personal experience with pain significantly influenced attitudes. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values varied from 0.425 to 0.942 in test-retest analysis. In general, their attitudes were positive, and their knowledge was good toward the management of pain. CONCLUSION: The Kuopio questionnaire demonstrated acceptable preliminary reliability and validity but requires confirmation in larger, more diverse samples.