Evaluation of osteoarthritis knee and hip quality of life (OAKHQoL): adaptation and validation of the questionnaire in the Hungarian population

BACKGROUND: At least 17% of the population suffers from osteoarthritis (OA) in Hungary, according to the European Health Interview Survey. In Hungary, until now there was no OA-specific questionnaire available for the lower limb, in order to monitor the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This gap gave the relevance of this research. The aim of the study was to perform the Hungarian cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the French-developed Osteoarthritis Knee and Hip Quality of Life (OAKHQoL) questionnaire. METHODS: The five-step translation procedure of the original OAKHQoL was performed by the expert panel and the translators. The created Hungarian version (OAKHQoL-HUN) was tested in six different geographical areas of Hungary. The validity and the reliability of this adapted tool was analyzed by our research group. RESULTS: A total of 99 patients completed the questionnaires (78 women and 21 men), with the average age of 66.6 years (standard deviation (SD) 12.1), living with OA for more than 10 years. Excellent internal consistency was observed in the following domains: physical activity (α = 0.93), mental health (α = 0.91) and pain (α = 0.89). Good correlation was determined between physical subscales (r = 0.615–0.676) and mental subscales (r = 0.633–0.643) compared to generic quality of life instruments (World Health Organization Quality of life – BREF questionnaire and EQ-5D-3L). CONCLUSION: The OAKHQoL-HUN is the first valid and reliable tool for measuring the Hungarian lower limb OA patients’ quality of life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered (24950-3/2016/EKU) by the National Ethics Committee: the Hungarian Medical Research Council.