Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Romanian International Knee Documentation Committee—subjective knee form

AIM: We aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the International Knee Documentation Committee—subjective knee form (IKDC) in Romanian. METHOD: The original (US) IKDC—subjective knee form was translated according to recommended guidelines. Validity was tested using Spearmans’s correlation coefficient between score sand test-retest reproducibility. Reliability and internal consistency were determined using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: A total of 106 data sets were available for processing. The average age was 52 years and the male to female ratio was 40:66. Fifty-five subjects repeated the form after an average of 4 days. There were no floor or ceiling effects (range 3.4–74.7). There was a strong correlation between the first and repeated administration of the IKDC—subjective knee form (r = 0.816, n = 50) and moderate compared to Tegner-Lysholm knee rating scale (r = 0.506, n = 102), KOOSJR (Knee disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score for Joint Replacement, r = − 0.622, n = 96), EuroqolEQ-5D-5L Index (r = 0.633, n = 100) and visual analogue scale VAS (r = 0.484, n = 99). Internal consistency was moderate with Cronbach’s alpha 0.611 (n = 102) and ICC 0.611 for average measures (95% CI 0.493–0.713). CONCLUSION: The Romanian translation of the IKDC—subjective knee form is a valid, consistent and reproducible outcome measure in patients with knee pain and dysfunction.