Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of Shortened Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (Quick-DASH)

BACKGROUND: The aim was to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of shortened disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (Quick-DASH) questionnaire in patients with upper extremity conditions. METHODS: We administered the Persian version of Quick-DASH to 202 patients with upper extremity conditions, of which 71 patients randomly returned after 3 days to respond to the questionnaire for the 2(nd) time. In order to test the construct validity of the questionnaire, patients responded to the Michigan Hand Outcome Questionnaire (MHOQ) and Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) as well. Internal consistency was tested using the Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest reliability was measured using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.90. ICC was 0.89. Convergent validity was confirmed, as the Spearman correlation between the Quick-DASH and MHOQ was 0.67 and ranged from 0.24 to 0.56 between the subscales of the SF-36 and Quick-DASH. CONCLUSIONS: Observation of excellent internal consistency, good to excellent test-retest reliability, and moderate to strong construct validity confirms the validity and reliability of the Persian version of Quick-DASH for evaluating the magnitude and level of disability in upper extremity conditions.