Reliability and validity of the PORTRAIT-10 tool for assessing complex health care needs in French-speaking people living with chronic pain

Chronic pain (CP) presents multidimensional components, leading individuals to experience complex biopsychosocial needs. However, efficient tools to assess these needs remain scarce. PORTRAIT-10 is a tool designed to measure the complexity of patients’ needs. The present study was aimed at documenting the psychometric properties of this tool in a sample of individuals with CP who completed the INTERMED-Self Assessment (IMSA), PORTRAIT-10, Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ). PORTRAIT-10 was re-administered 3 weeks later. The sample comprised 295 participants. Mean age of the respondents was 53.3 ± 9.3 years; 88.3% were females. The median pain duration was 15 years. Results of an exploratory factor analysis showed that a 4-factor solution best fit the PORTRAIT-10 data, with at least 2 of these factors (psychological and social) being consistent with the conceptual framework of the tool. PORTRAIT-10 also showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.67, 0.73) and very good reliability over time (ρ = 0.85). Correlation with IMSA was high (ρ = 0.74) and as expected, was low with PCS (ρ = 0.34) suggesting a very good construct validity. A ROC analysis demonstrated that a PORTRAIT-10 cut-off score of 10 displayed good sensitivity (0.86) and specificity (0.71) in detecting complex care needs in this population. This study provides initial validity and reliability of PORTRAIT-10 and suggests that this tool may be helpful in identifying individuals with CP who have complex needs. Further research is needed to explore the psychometric properties of PORTRAIT-10 in large and more diverse chronic pain populations and to evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes.