The Russian Version of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation

Background. The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) is one of the most commonly used specialized scales to assess function, pain, aesthetic component, and overall patient satisfaction with their hands and wrists. However, to date, the scale has not been validated into Russian.

Aim of the study — validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Russian-language version of the questionnaire for patients with hand diseases MHQ.

Methods. Validation and cultural adaptation were carried out in several stages: forward translation, back translation, formation of a preliminary version, pilot testing (pretesting), formation of the final version, with the help of which 50 patients were interviewed, of which 29 men (58%) and 21 women ( 42%), whose average age was 52.72 (25–84) years. Next, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed: validity, ceiling and floor effects, internal consistency (Cronbach’s α), reproducibility, completion rate. Patients completed the MHQ questionnaire upon initial visit to an orthopedic traumatologist and again the next day. Reproducibility was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was assessed by studying the relationship between the results of the questionnaire under study and the results of the DASH questionnaire validated in Russia.

Results. As part of the study, a rating scale was obtained with good psychometric properties: validity — 0.726, p<0.001; Cronbach’s α >0.9, 95% CI (0.65–0.97); reproducibility — 0.92 (0.87–0.96); occupancy rate — 100%; the ceiling effect is observed in 42 questions 1–20, 22–27, 35, 37, 38, 42, 46–57, the floor effect in 13 questions — 17, 20, 28–32, 39–41, 43–45.

Conclusions. The results of the study of the validity and retest reliability of the Russian version of the MHQ scale indicate that it is a reliable and reliable tool for assessing the function, pain, aesthetic component and overall satisfaction of patients with respect to their hands and wrists, which can be widely used by domestic researchers in practical and scientific activities.