Upper extremity-specific measures of disability and outcomes in orthopaedic surgery.
Outcome measures may consist of simple questions or they may be more complex instruments that evaluate multiple interrelated domains that influence patient function. Outcome measures should be relevant to patients, easy to use, reliable, valid, and responsive to clinical changes. The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score can be used to measure disability for any region of the upper limb. Joint and disease-specific outcome measures have been developed for the shoulder, the elbow, and the wrist and hand. Many of these measures would benefit from further research into their validity, reliability, and optimal applicability.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, 14532 South Outer Forty Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63017, USA. smithmv@wudosis.wustl.edu
Matthew V
MV
Smith
Ryan P
RP
Calfee
Keith M
KM
Baumgarten
Robert H
RH
Brophy
Rick W
RW
Wright
D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000601:surgery*