Reliability and Validity of Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire in Taiwan

Research Objectives: To assess the reliability and validity of the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (QuickDASH) in patients with upper extremity (UE) musculoskeletal diseases in Taiwan.

Design: An expert panel was organized to evaluate the validity of QuickDASH. In addition, patients with UE, including carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), confirmed by nerve conduction velocity or sonography were recruited to evaluate its reliability and validity.

Setting: We recruited participants at the two largest medical centers and one clinic in Tainan, Taiwan.

Participants: We recruited participants 20 to 65 years of age and divided them into three groups: patients with CTS (CTS group), patients with UE musculoskeletal diseases who were under rehabilitation (rehabilitation group), and the general population (general group).

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: In addition to the expert panel, we evaluated the validity of QuickDASH through administering DASH questionnaire, grip strength measurement, Semmes-Weinstein monofilament sensory test, and Purdue pegboard test to every participant. The retest reliability was assessed one week apart.

Results: There are 15 participants in the CTS group, 22 in the rehabilitation group, and 30 in the general group. The mean score for QuickDASH questionnaire in the CTS group, rehabilitation group, and general group were 29.70, 21.59, and 1.97, respectively (p value < 0.01). The 95% confidence interval CI of the difference between two groups was 0.00~18.18 between the CTS group and the rehabilitation group, 22.73~31.82 between the CTS group and the general group, and 11.36~18.18 between the rehabilitation group and the general group. The intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.91, which indicated excellent test-retest reliability. A strong correlation between the scores of QuickDASH and DASH questionnaires was observed.

Conclusions: QuickDASH appeared to be reliable and valid for the use in patients with UE musculoskeletal diseases in Taiwan.

Author(s) Disclosures: The research didn't have any interest in conflict to bias the presentation and the funder had no role in any stage of the study.