Subjective health measure used on Chinese patients with neck pain in Hong Kong.

STUDY DESIGN

A prospective observational study was conducted on the use of the Chinese version of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Chinese version of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire in Chinese patients with neck pain in Hong Kong.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

There is increasing recognition that patient perspectives are essential both in making medical decisions and in judging the treatment outcomes. A valid Chinese version of a neck disability index questionnaire is urgently needed for effective and reliable evaluation of the treatment outcomes for patients with neck pain.

METHODS

Two samples with 532 consecutive adult patients with neck pain from seven physiotherapy outpatient departments in Hong Kong who completed the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire were observed and measured at different intervals: at the beginning of physiotherapy, at 7 days, at 3 weeks, and 6 weeks after physiotherapy.

RESULTS

The questionnaire had good content validity, very good test-retest reliability, and internal consistency (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.95; Cronbach's alpha, 0.87). It also had good validity (Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.59 when the score was correlated with that of a generic 42-item Chinese health questionnaire) and good responsiveness (effect size of 1.11 at week 6 after treatment began).

CONCLUSIONS

The Chinese version of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire has been shown to demonstrate very good content validity, a high degree of test-retest reliability, and internal consistency. It also exhibited good construct validity and high sensitivity to changes in severity over time.