Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Central Sensitization Inventory in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) CA), 2024-10, Vol.12, p.e18251, Article e18251
• Main Authors: Tamboosi, Sarah E, Alzahrani, Hosam, Alshehri, Fahad H, Alzhrani, Msaad, S Alshehri, Yasir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Case-Control Studies; Catastrophization - diagnosis; Catastrophization - psychology; Central Nervous System Sensitization - physiology; Central Sensitization Inventory; Chronic Pain - diagnosis; Chronic Pain - psychology; Cross-cultural adaptation; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cross-Sectional Studies; CSI; CSI-Ar; Female; Humans; Male; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Middle Aged; Musculoskeletal Pain - diagnosis; Musculoskeletal Pain - psychology; Neurophysiology; Pain; Pain Measurement - methods; Psychometric validation; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Psychometrics - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18251

The Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) is a patient-reported screening instrument that can be used to identify and assess central sensitization (CS)/Central Sensitization Syndrome (CSS)-related symptoms. The aim was to translate the CSI into Arabic (CSI-Ar) and to subsequently validate its psychometric properties. Cross-sectional. The CSI was translated and cross-culturally adapted into Arabic, and validated following international standardized guidelines. This study included patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain ( = 264) and healthy control participants ( = 56). Patients completed the CSI-Ar, Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-21), Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and 5-level EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D). Patients completed the CSI-Ar twice to assess test-retest reliability. To evaluate discriminative validity, healthy controls participants completed the CSI-Ar. Statistical analyses were conducted to test the internal consistency, reliability, and structural, construct and discriminant validity of CSI-Ar. The CSI-Ar showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.919) and excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.874). The CSI-Ar scale had significant correlations ( < 0.001) with all PCS subscales and total score (Spearman's rho = 0.459-0.563, < 0.001), all DASS-21 subscales and total score (Spearman's rho = 0.599-0.685, < 0.001), the TSK (Spearman's rho = 0.395, < 0.001), and the EQ-5D (Spearman's rho = -0.396, < 0.001). The Mann-Whitney U-test showed a statistically significant difference between the patient group and the healthy control group ( < 0.001), with the healthy controls displaying a lower average CSI-Ar score (12.27 ± 11.50) when compared to the patient group (27.97 ± 16.08). Factor analysis indicated that the CSI-Ar is a unidimensional tool. The CSI-Ar is a reliable and valid screening tool that can be used to assess CS/CSS-related symptoms in Arabic-speaking people with chronic musculoskeletal pain.