Background: The World Health Organization Quality of Life scale Pain and Discomfort Module (WHOQOL PDM) was designed to assess quality of life (QoL) in adults with chronic pain. It comprises 16 items covering four facets of pain: relief, anger/frustration, vulnerability/fear/worry, and uncertainty.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to validate the Italian version of the WHOQOL PDM.
Methods: Chronic pain was assessed in 400 patients using the WHOQOL PDM and other pain scales, together with scales measuring associated symptoms, depression, anxiety, and QoL.
Results: The WHOQOL PDM shows good internal consistency, concurrent validity (it was significantly associated with all the WHOQOL BREF domains), construct validity (it was significantly associated with other pain scales), and discriminant validity (there were significant differences among different groups of patients).
Conclusions: The Italian version of the WHOQOL PDM is a brief, useful, and valid tool for assessing chronic pain and its impact on patients' QoL.