title: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Japanese Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Japan, only few cross-culturally adapted, internationally used orthopaedic patient self-assessed outcome scores are available. In addition, the high incidence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) suggests the need for validated outcome measures such as the widely used Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) for Japanese populations. The purpose of this study was to provide a cross-culturally adapted and validated KOOS questionnaire for further use in national and international clinical projects involving Japanese patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Japanese KOOS was developed according to the standard cross-cultural adaptation guidelines. For validation, the KOOS was tested on 58 patients diagnosed with OA. Reliability was tested using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Internal consistency or homogeneity was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was evaluated by quantifying the correlation between the KOOS and the Japanese OKS and SF-36 questionnaires with Spearmann's correlation coefficients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No major difficulties were encountered during the translation and pre-testing stages. All five KOOS subscales showed adequate reproducibility with ICC values greater than 0.85, high internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha values around 0.90, and high Spearmann's coefficients over 0.50 signifying good correlation between the KOOS subscales and the OKS as well as the majority of the established subscales of the SF-36. No floor and ceiling effects were observed for the five subscales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our validated Japanese KOOS is a reliable and stable outcomes measure that provides a valuable basis for national and international clinical projects focusing on patient-based assessments in knee OA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science, Osaka Health Science University, 1-9-27 Tenma, Kita-ku, Osaka, 530-0043, Japan.
authors.forename: Norimasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sawaguchi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldhahn
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000534:rehabilitation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations