Elsevier

Journal of Hand Therapy

Volume 21, Issue 4, October–December 2008, Pages 366-376
Journal of Hand Therapy

Scientific/Clinical Study
Reliability and Validity of the German Version of “The Patient-rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE)” as an Outcome Measure of Wrist Pain and Disability in Patients with Acute Distal Radius Fractures

https://doi.org/10.1197/j.jht.2008.03.002Get rights and content

Abstract

The aim was to test the reliability and validity of the German version of the Patient-rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) for patients with acute distal radius fractures. To estimate the reliability and construct validity, 44 patients completed a questionnaire booklet containing the German PRWE, the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) four to six weeks after the fracture, and the PRWE again seven days later. For reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.94 for the PRWE total score. Its internal consistency was 0.89 (Cronbach's alpha). The PRWE total score showed a moderate correlation with the DASH (0.62) and the SF-36 subscale bodily pain (0.58). Low correlations were found with other scales of the SF-36. Based on our results the German PRWE is a practical, reliable, and valid instrument and can be recommended to measure patient-rated pain and disability in German-speaking patients with acute distal radius fracture.

Section snippets

Patients

The reliability and validity of the PRWE were examined in a group of German-speaking patients with acute distal radius fractures, who were receiving medical treatment at the surgical Polyclinic of the University Hospital Basel. Patients with an uncomplicated fracture received conservative treatment; a plaster or cast for four to five weeks and were, based on recently changed hospital policies, referred to their own medical doctor for further treatment. The surgical treatment of patients with

Patients

Between February and December 2006, 45 patients were enrolled in the study. One patient was removed from the database because he had a bilateral acute distal radius fracture. Two patients did not complete the second assessment on time, but the data from the first assessment were retained. This resulted in 44 patients for the validity testing and 42 patients with complete test and retest data. Patients were, for the first assessment, assessed four to six weeks (mean 34.4 d, SD 4.0 d) after the

Discussion

The German PRWE proved to be a reliable, face- and construct-valid measure of wrist pain and function that was feasible to implement in clinical practice. The questions are short, easily understandable and the whole form requires approximately 3 minutes to complete.12 The German translation was done in 2002 and based on the original publication of the PRWE.7 Therefore, the author of the German translation did not take into account the subsequent publication in 2004 of the Patient-rated

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the department of Occupational Therapy of the University Hospital Basel, especially Margrit Geiger and Christine Büchsenschütz, for enrolling and the evaluation of the patients.

LH formed the study design for the reliability and validity study, obtained the ethics approval. LH and SW-D developed the research question. LH and SW-D developed the study protocol and planned the statistical analyses. LH (with two therapists) enrolled and evaluated patients in this study.

FA

Quiz: Article # 106

Record your answers on the Return Answer Form found on the tear-out coupon at the back of this issue. There is only one best answer for each question.

  • #1.

    The original PRWE was created by

    • a.

      Sue Michlovitz et al

    • b.

      Mary Kasch et al

    • c.

      Mark Walsh et al

    • d.

      Joy MacDermid et al

  • #2.

    The patient population studied consisted of

    • a.

      sprained wrists

    • b.

      carpal instabilities

    • c.

      distal radius fractures

    • d.

      interpositional arthroplasties

  • #3.

    The purpose of the study was to

    • a.

      investigate the psychometric properties of the German PRWE

    • b.

      compare the German PRWE to

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  • J.C. MacDermid et al.

    Pain and disability reported in the year following a distal radius fracture: a cohort study

    BMC Musculoskelet Disord

    (2003)
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