title: [Translation and psychometric testing of the Rotator Cuff Quality-of-Life Measure (RC-QOL) for use in German-speaking regions].
abstract: The evaluation of quality of life is an established criterion for evaluation of therapeutic measures. Starting from the English-speaking area a great number of different patient-based outcomes measures were developed to specifically question disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the results of treatment. Because of the lack of a German measurement tool for patients with rotator cuff disease the translation and the psychometric testing following international guidelines of the 34-item, multidimensional, English Rotator Cuff Quality-of-Life Measure (RC-QOL) was undertaken. Reliability (test-retest reliability, internal consistency), validity, practicability and acceptance of the German version of the RC-QOL were tested by 102 patients with an impingement syndrome after translation and cross-culture adaptation of the English original questionnaire. In addition, the SF-36, the Constant and UCLA scores were evaluated. Between the evaluations there was no significant difference; the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.89 for the test-retest reliability. The internal consistency showed a high homogeneity with a Cronbach Alpha-coefficient of 0.98. A Pearson correlation coefficient between 0.67-0.76 registered a high correlation with the physical subscales of the SF-36, the Constant and the UCLA scores. The mean time required for completing the RC-QOL was 12 minutes; mean time required for evaluation was 10 minutes. The questionnaire was incompletely answered by 16 patients (15.6%). A total of 120 items (3.5%) were left unanswered. After successful translation and psychometric testing of the German version of the Rotator Cuff Quality-of-Life Measure (RC-QOL) a multidimensional measurement tool for evaluating the quality of life of German-speaking patients with pathology of the rotator cuff is available.
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinik für Orthopädie, Wien, Austria. w.huber@univie.ac.at
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hofstaetter
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hanslik-Schnabel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Posch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wurnig
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000601:surgery; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019534:Shoulder Impingement Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome