Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validation, and Reliability Process of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire in a Turkish Population

Purpose The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) is a domain-specific questionnaire that was developed to be used as a standardized instrument capable of measuring outcomes for patients with all types of hand disorders. The purpose of this study was to develop the Turkish version of the MHQ and to examine whether it is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the outcomes in hand disorders. Methods Translation and back-translation of the MHQ were performed, according to published guidelines. A total of 70 patients with hand complaints completed the final version of the MHQ and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire Turkish version (DASH-T) twice, on their first visit and after an interval of 7 days. Visual analog scale (VAS) results for pain intensity and grip strength measurements of the individuals were also taken in both assessments consecutively. Results Translation and back-translation revealed no major difficulties. The Turkish version of the MHQ met set criteria of reliability and validity. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the test-retest reliability for the 6 subscales ranged from 0.79 to 0.96. The internal consistency of the MHQ, estimated by Cronbach's alpha, ranged from 0.85 to 0.96 for all subscale scores. There were high to moderate correlations between MHQ and DASH scores and VAS and grip strength scores of the injured side. Conclusions The Turkish version of the MHQ has excellent test-retest reliability and validity, and it is an adequate and useful instrument for measuring functional disability in hand disorders of Turkish-speaking patients. (J Hand Surg 2011;36A:486-492. Copyright (C) 2011 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. All rights reserved.)