Reliability and validity of the Turkish Version of Arthritis Research UK Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ-T) for assessing the general health status in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (ax-SpA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One hundred ax-SpA patients (42 males, 58 females; mean age 40.3±9.1 years; range, 18 to 65 years) who were able to speak and understand Turkish language were included in this study. All participants answered MSK-HQ-T, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36). MSK-HQ-T was repeated five-seven days later for test-retest and internal consistency reliability.

RESULTS

The Cronbach's alpha value was 0.912, demonstrating high internal consistency. The test-retest score of MSK-HQ-T was 0.968, which was significant. The correlation of MSK-HQ-T with the subgroup scores of SF-36 was statistically significant (p<0.001). The correlation between MSK-HQ-T and the total scores of BASDAI and BASFI was statistically significant (r=-0.788, p<0.001; r=-0.743, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The MSK-HQ-T is a reliable and valid questionnaire to assess general health status in Turkish patients with ax-SpA.