Only a limited number of the identified instruments for the assessment of impairments is both reliable and valid .
The objective of this study is to provide a critical overview of available instruments to assess impairments in patients with rheumatic disorders , and to recommend reliable and valid instruments for use in allied health care and rehabilitation medicine .
Validity and reliability of Swedish WOMAC osteoarthritis index: A self-administered disease-specific questionnaire (WOMAC) versus generic instruments (SF-36 and NHP)
We assessed whether a disease-specific , self-administered question naire could replace a generic instrument as an outcome tool after total hip replacement , and tested the validity and reliability of the Swedish WOMAC osteoarthritis index . 58 patients operated on with total hip arthroplasty 2 - 10 years ago were r and omized to the study . All patients were asked to answer one disease-specific question naire ( WOMAC osteoarthritis index ) and two generic instruments ( NHP and SF-36 ) in the same week . The procedure was repeated after 4 weeks . We tested content validity , construct validity , criterion validity , test-retest reliability and internal consistency reliability according to total score , domains and items . We found that both the generic instruments ( NHP and SF-36 ) and the disease-specific test ( WOMAC ) had a high validity , i.e. , measuring what they were supposed to measure ( high validity ) . The question naires were also reproducible over time ( high reliability ) . We suggest the Swedish WOMAC to be used after total hip arthroplasty in future studies
Only a limited number of the identified instruments for the assessment of impairments is both reliable and valid .
The objective of this study is to provide a critical overview of available instruments to assess impairments in patients with rheumatic disorders , and to recommend reliable and valid instruments for use in allied health care and rehabilitation medicine .