Validation of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot Scale Dutch language version in patients with hindfoot fractures.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot Scale is among the most used questionnaires for measuring functional recovery after a hindfoot injury. Recently, this instrument was translated and culturally adapted into a Dutch version. In this study, the measurement properties of the Dutch language version (DLV) were investigated in patients with a unilateral hindfoot fracture. DESIGN:Multicentre, prospective observational study. SETTING:This multicentre study was conducted in three Dutch hospitals. PARTICIPANTS:In total, 118 patients with a unilateral hindfoot fracture were included. Three patients were lost to follow-up. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:Patients were asked to complete the AOFAS-DLV, the Foot Function Index and the Short Form-36 on three occasions. Descriptive statistics (including floor and ceiling effects), reliability (ie, internal consistency), construct validity, reproducibility (ie, test-retest reliability, agreement and smallest detectable change (SDC)) and responsiveness were determined. RESULTS:Internal consistency was inadequate for the AOFAS-DLV total scale (?=0.585), but adequate for the function subscale (?=0.863). The questionnaire had adequate construct validity (82.4% of predefined hypotheses were confirmed), but inadequate longitudinal validity (70.6%). No floor effects were found, but ceiling effects were present in all AOFAS-DLV (sub)scales, most pronounced from 6 to 24 months after trauma onwards. Responsiveness was only adequate for the pain and alignment subscales, with a SDC of 1.7 points. CONCLUSIONS:The AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot Scale DLV has adequate construct validity and is reliable, making it a suitable instrument for cross-sectional studies investigating functional outcome in patients with a hindfoot fracture. The inadequate longitudinal validity and responsiveness, however, hamper the use of the questionnaire in longitudinal studies and for assessing long-term functional outcome. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:NTR5613; Post-results.

SUBMITTER: De Boer AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5695419 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature