Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Forgotten Joint Score-12 Questionnaire in Iranian Patients Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Authors:   Department of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Momeni Elnaz , Sohani Soheil Mansour ,   Department of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Nourizadeh Dehkordi Shohreh ,   Department of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Amiri Ali ,   Department of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Amini Malek ,   Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Published: February 2022

Background and Objectives: Forgotten Joint Score-12 is a useful questionnaire to evaluate the level of joint awareness and patients’ ability to forget the involved joint. The objective of the present study was to obtain a tool to evaluate the level of joint awareness for use in Persian-speaking patients following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Methods: The present study was a methodological study in the field of psychometrics, in which after translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the FJS-12 questionnaire according to the ISPOR method, to examine its validity, the questionnaire was given to 114 participants who had passed between 1 and 3 years of their anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. To evaluate reliability, participants were asked to complete and resubmit the questionnaire after a week. In this study, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to analyze the repeatability of the questionnaire and measure Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency. Structural validity was performed by calculating the correlation between the FJS-12 questionnaire and Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) and Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaires using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The level of ceiling and floor effect of the questionnaire was also assessed. Results: Internal consistency and data repeatability were excellent for FJS-12 (Cronbach’s α=0.950 and ICC=0.845, respectively). In examining the validity, a weak to moderate correlation was obtained between the score of the FJS-12 questionnaire and the scores of the subscales of WOMAC (r=0.34) and KOOS (r=0.34). Also, a moderate correlation was obtained between the score of the FJS-12 questionnaire and the first question of the subscale of quality of life in the KOOS questionnaire (r=0.46), which indicates the validity of the average structure of the questionnaire. The floor (4.45%) and ceiling (3.50%) effect was low. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the Persian version of the FJS-12 questionnaire can be used by Persian speakers. Also, this questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the level of joint awareness in individuals following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.