Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire in Swedish patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A validity study.

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire in a Swedish rheumatoid arthritis population. To investigate the concurrent and convergent validity, 67 patients with rheumatoid arthritis completed the DASH, the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ) and activity-induced pain. Active shoulder-arm motion, handgrip force and disease activity (Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; DAS28) were assessed. The test-retest reliability was investigated in 26 patients. Face validity was also investigated. Spearman’s correlation coefficient revealed a significant association (p < 0.001) between the DASH score and HAQ index (rs 0.80), confirming satisfactory concurrent validity. A significant association (p ≤ 0.02) was found between the DASH score and active shoulder-arm motion (rs –0.38 to –0.50), handgrip force (rs –0.46 to –0.59), activity-induced pain (rs 0.66) and DAS28 (rs 0.63), confirming satisfactory convergent validity for the DASH questionnaire. Satisfactory test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.99, 95% confidence interval 0.98–0.99) and face validity of the questionnaire were confirmed. The DASH questionnaire showed satisfactory test-retest reliability, concurrent-, convergent-, and face validity for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and can be recommended for use in rheumatoid arthritis populations.

Citation

Annelie Bilberg, Tomas Bremell, Kaisa Mannerkorpi. Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire in Swedish patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A validity study. Journal of rehabilitation medicine. 2012 Jan;44(1):7-11

Mesh Tags

PMID: 22124512

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