Pain Medicine

Biography

Biography: Ilker Ilhanli

Abstract

The cultural adaptations of questionnaires are important for easy use. Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) is a questionnaire evaluating the hand disorders in different diseases. In this study, we aimed to assess the reliability and the validity of the Turkish version of MHQ in a single homogeneous group of patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The MHQ was translated to Turkish for cultural adaptation. A prior study was performed with a small group of patients (N=10) and healthy participants (N=10) for cognitive debriefing. After the prior study last version of the Turkish MHQ was prepared and used for reliability and validity study. For test-retest reliability, the Turkish MHQ and the ‘‘Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand’’ questionnaire (DASH) which was validated previously were answered by 100 patients with CTS and 50 healthy participants, and were repeated a week later. For internal consistency, the Cronbach’s alpha test was used. For validity, correlations between the subscales of the MHQ and the DASH were measured. Intraclass correlations of the subscales of the MHQ were high for test-retest reliability. The Cronbach’s alphas were found to be high in all subscales. We found significant differences between the patients and controls regarding all subscales of the MHQ. Correlations between subscales of the MHQ and the DASH were significant. This study showed that the Turkish version of the “Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire” is reliable and valid and can be used in the Turkish patients with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because it is comprehensible and practicable.