Adaptation and validation of the Chinese version of the Central Sensitisation Inventory in patients with chronic pain

Background The 25-item Central Sensitisation Inventory (CSI-25) is a patient-reported instrument used to screen patients at risk of central sensitisation, a pathophysiological mechanism implicated in many chronic pain syndromes. Aims To adapt and validate a Chinese version of the CSI-25 in the Chinese population. Methods The Chinese CSI-25 was developed by the translation of the original English version, back translation, cultural adaptation and revision using the Delphi method. The Chinese CSI-25 was administered to 237 patients with chronic pain and 55 healthy controls. Structural validity (confirmatory factor analysis), construct validity (correlations with other instruments), test–retest reliability and internal consistency were evaluated. Results Confirmatory factor analysis extracted four main factors (‘physical symptoms’, ‘emotional distress’, ‘headache/jaw symptoms’ and ‘urological symptoms’). The Chinese CSI-25 score was positively correlated with the Pain Catastrophic Scale (PCS) total score (r=0.709), PCS subscale scores (r=0.630–0.695), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) mean item score (r=0.773), BPI total score (r=0.773) and the number of painful sites (r=0.636). The Chinese CSI-25 had excellent test–retest reliability (intragroup correlation coefficient=0.975) and good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.930 in the overall population and 0.882 in the chronic pain population). Conclusions The Chinese CSI-25 had excellent test–retest reliability and satisfactory structural validity and construct validity. This instrument could potentially be used in China as a self-report questionnaire in both clinical practice and research settings.