Evaluation of the Turkish version of measure of activity performance of the hand (MAP-Hand) in people with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Assessing hand function is essential for many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The Measure of Activity Performance of the Hand (MAP-Hand) allows a rapid evaluation of the hand. Objective: To translate the MAP-Hand into Turkish and investigate its psychometric properties. Method: The MAP-Hand was translated into Turkish by using established translation guidelines. The questionnaire was pilot tested in 30 people with RA. Then, 185 adults with RA (150 women) participated in the study. Physical characteristics (age, sex, body mass index), socio-demographic information (education, employment, marital status), disease-related characteristics (RA medications, disease activity, duration of disease), hand strength (grip and pinch strengths), and patient reported outcome measures regarding pain, hand/upper extremity function, and general health status were collected. The Turkish MAP-Hand was re-administered to 109 participants in the following week. Results: The Turkish MAP-Hand was acceptable and feasible to administer, and showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.952, confidence interval, CI = 0.942 to 0.962, p < .001). The unidimensionality of the Turkish MAP-Hand was confirmed by Rasch Analysis. Test-retest reliability was excellent (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient = 0.908, CI = 0.868 to 0.936, p < .001). The Turkish MAP-Hand showed moderate negative correlations with hand strength (Pearson's r between -0.511 and -0.572, p < .05), and fair to excellent positive correlations with disease activity, pain, hand/upper extremity function, and general health status (Pearson's r between 0.437 and 0.915, p < .05). Conclusion: The Turkish Map-Hand demonstrated adequate psychometric properties (internal consistency, structural validity, test-retest reliability, convergent validity) supporting the utility of its use for evaluating the activity performance of the hand in people with RA.