Development and validation of the therapeutic alliance in physiotherapy questionnaire for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to present the development and analysis of the factorial structure and psychometric properties of a new self-administered questionnaire (Therapeutic Alliance in Physiotherapy Questionnaire-Patients [CAF-P]) designed to measure therapeutic alliance in physiotherapy. The sample included 204 patients with chronic pain attending nine primary care centres. The CAF-P was developed and validated using standard methodology, which included developing items, cognitive debriefing and psychometric validation. CAF-P has excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach's α of 0.91 and an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.87. We propose a structure of two factors that explain 55.80 % of the variance. The convergent validity showed a moderate positive correlation with the probability of recommending treatment and with the level of satisfaction. The CAF-P appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the therapeutic alliance perceived by patients in physiotherapy. The results of the present study leads to further research to identify the differences in the therapeutic alliance construct between different settings or professions.