Department of Occupational Medicine, Regional Hospital West Jutland, University Research Clinic, Herning, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2018 Jun;27(6):1112-1116. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2017.12.031. Epub 2018 Feb 13.
The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire and the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) index are 2 widely used patient-reported questionnaires in individuals with rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathy. In contrast to the WORC index, for which the items are specific to the affected shoulder, the items of the DASH questionnaire assess the ability to perform activities regardless of the arm used. The objective of this study is to determine whether scores on the DASH questionnaire and WORC index are affected if the symptoms are on the dominant or nondominant side in individuals with RC tendinopathy. Given the number of items that can be influenced by dominance, the hypothesis is that DASH scores will be impacted by the side of the symptoms.
Individuals with RC tendinopathy (N = 149) completed questions on symptomatology and hand dominance, the DASH questionnaire, and the WORC index. Differences in total scores (independent t test) and single items (Wilcoxon rank sum test) were compared between groups of participants with dominant-side symptoms and those without dominant-side symptoms.
No significant differences were observed for WORC or DASH total scores when comparing participants with and without symptoms on their dominant side. Single-item comparison revealed more items being affected by symptom side on the DASH questionnaire (6 of 30 items) than on the WORC index (2 of 21 items).
The side of the symptoms does not influence the DASH and WORC total scores, as there are no systematic differences between individuals with and without symptoms in their dominant shoulder. However, the presence of dominant symptoms does influence item scores more on the DASH questionnaire than on the WORC index.
手臂、肩部和手部障碍（DASH）问卷和西部安大略肩袖（WORC）指数是两种广泛用于肩袖（RC）肌腱病患者的患者报告问卷。与 WORC 指数不同，后者的项目针对受影响的肩部，DASH 问卷的项目评估无论使用哪只手臂进行活动的能力。本研究的目的是确定在 RC 肌腱病患者中，如果症状出现在优势或非优势侧，DASH 问卷和 WORC 指数的分数是否受到影响。鉴于可能受到优势影响的项目数量，假设 DASH 分数将受到症状侧的影响。
RC 肌腱病患者（N=149）完成了关于症状和手优势的问题、DASH 问卷和 WORC 指数。通过独立样本 t 检验比较有优势侧症状组和无优势侧症状组之间的总分（独立样本 t 检验）和单项（Wilcoxon 秩和检验）差异。
当比较有和无优势侧症状的参与者时，WORC 或 DASH 总分没有观察到显著差异。单项比较显示，DASH 问卷受症状侧影响的项目更多（30 项中的 6 项），而 WORC 指数受症状侧影响的项目更少（21 项中的 2 项）。
症状侧不会影响 DASH 和 WORC 总分，因为在有和无优势侧症状的个体之间，总分没有系统差异。然而，与 WORC 指数相比，优势症状的存在对 DASH 问卷的项目得分影响更大。
