Clinimetric, properties of 3 instruments measuring postoperative recovery in a gynecologic surgical population

Background. General, health-related quality-of-life questionnaires and recovery-specific questionnaires have been used to measure recovery in surgical patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinimetric properties of 3 recovery instruments and to examine whether recovery-specific instruments are useful. Methods. The Quality of Recovery-40 (QoR-40), Recovery Index-10 (RI-10), and RAAD-36 health survey were used to measure recovery in women undergoing different types of hysterectomy in the first 12 weeks after operation. Construct validity was assessed by testing predefined hypotheses. The changes observed during the postoperative period were used as indicators for responsiveness. Results. One hundred and sixty-one women were included. Response rate and internal consistency were found satisfactory. The highest number of hypotheses used for assessment of construct validity was confirmed in the RI-10. The RI-10 was more responsive compared with the QoR-40 and the RAND-36. Conclusions. Because construct validity and responsiveness were greatest in the RI-10, we conclude that this short recovery-specific instrument is useful in studies evaluating postoperative recovery. We recommend the use of the RI-10, unless the immediate postoperative days are of interest in which the QoR-40 was valid.