Measurement properties of the Dutch Unité Rhumatologique des Affections de la Main and its ability to measure change due to Dupuytren’s disease progression compared with the Michigan Hand outcomes Questionnaire

Data of a prospective longitudinal cohort study including 233 Dupuytren’s patients was used to determine: (1) whether the Unité Rhumatologique des Affections de la Main scale and Michigan Hand outcomes Questionnaire can detect change in hand function due to Dupuytren’s disease progression and to compare their abilities; (2) the concurrent validity, reliability, responsiveness and interpretability of the Dutch Unité Rhumatologique des Affections de la Main. The Unité Rhumatologique des Affections de la Main and Michigan Hand outcomes Questionnaire had comparable measurement properties, and were both able to distinguish participants with disease progression from those without progression (resp. U = 1252.5, p = 0.008, and U = 1086.0, p < 0.001), but only at a group level. Individual cases of progression could not be detected using these outcome measures, as indicated by the fact that the smallest detectable change was larger than the minimal important change, and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) values of 0.75 for Michigan Hand outcomes Questionnaire and 0.67 for Unité Rhumatologique des Affections de la Main. Level of evidence: II