title: Validity of the Thai version of Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (KKU-DASH) in patients with brachial plexus injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the reliability and validity of the Thai version of the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (KKU-DASH) questionnaire in patients with brachial plexus injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Thai KKU-DASH version was performed based on translation/back translation methodology. Thirty-four Thai-speaking patients with brachial plexus injuries completed the KKU-DASH and the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) questionnaires preoperatively and then were reassessed for test-retest reliability two months later Reliability was investigated for reproducibility and internal consistency The validity was evaluated by using component analysis and the correlations coefficients between the KKU-DASH and the SF-36.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency of the degree of difficulty, severity of pain, and social activity domains of the KKU-DASH was good to excellent (Cronbach's alpha 1.00, 0.75, and 1.00). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICCs) for the test-retest reliability was 0.52. For the degree ofdifficulty, severity of pain, social activity, and psychological effect on self-image, the ICC were 0.5, 0.45, 0.57, and 0.53 respectively The convergent validity between the KKU-DASH and SF-36 was -0.76. The convergent validity of each domain between both instruments ranged from 0.46 to 0.69 and the strongest correlation was observed in the social activity domain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the reliability and validity testing, the KKU-DASH questionnaire is suitable for Thai-speaking patients with brachial plexus injuries.
authors.affiliation: Department ofOrthopedics, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. surutmd@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Surut
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jianmongkol
authors.forename: Weerachai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kosuwon
authors.forename: Tala
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thammaroj
authors.forename: Manusak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boonard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000293:injuries*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013785:Thailand; D014177:Translations; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult