Mehmet Tuncay Duruöz, Nuran Öz, Yusuf Karabulut, Didem Erdem Gürsoy, Halise Hande Gezer, Sevtap Acer Kasman
{"title":"Validity and psychometric characteristics of the Duruöz Hand Index (DHI) with systemic sclerosis.","authors":"Mehmet Tuncay Duruöz, Nuran Öz, Yusuf Karabulut, Didem Erdem Gürsoy, Halise Hande Gezer, Sevtap Acer Kasman","doi":"10.1007/s00296-025-05829-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The Duruöz Hand Index (DHI) is a self-report questionnaire originally developed to assess hand function in rheumatoid arthritis patients and validated for various rheumatic conditions. The aim of the study is to evaluate the validity and psychometric features of the DHI in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>SSc patients diagnosed using EULAR/ACR 2013 criteria were included in study. Hand functionality was assessed using the DHI, Hand Functional Index (HFI) and visual analog scales (VAS) for disability and handicap. Overall disability and quality of life were measured using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Short Form-36 (SF-36). Reliability (Cronbach's alpha and ICC) and validity (face, content, convergent and divergent) were also analyzed and correlations with other measures assessed for construct validity of the DHI were examined.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy-three patients were included in the study, 78.1% were female. The baseline mean DHI score was 31.2 (SD: 20.2). Completion and calculation of the questionnaire were easy and took 5 min and 30 s, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was 0.973 and the ICC for test-retest reliability was 0.993 (95%CI 0.981-0.997), suggesting that the DHI has high internal consistency and a high degree of reliability. Cognitive debriefing showed that the DHI is clear, understandable, relevant, and covers many domains of daily life, indicating good face and content validity. The DHI demonstrated good to moderate correlations with functional measures indicating convergent validity and moderate to non-significant correlations with non-functional parameters that supported divergent validity. Cronbach's alpha was 0.973, indicating excellent internal consistency.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In SSc patients, specific tools for assessing hand function are lacking. The DHI is a practical, reliable and valid measurement tool for both clinical assessment and research in this disease affecting skin, tendons, subcutaneous tissue and arthritis.</p>","PeriodicalId":21322,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology International","volume":"45 4","pages":"75"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Rheumatology International","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-025-05829-z","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"RHEUMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: The Duruöz Hand Index (DHI) is a self-report questionnaire originally developed to assess hand function in rheumatoid arthritis patients and validated for various rheumatic conditions. The aim of the study is to evaluate the validity and psychometric features of the DHI in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
Methods: SSc patients diagnosed using EULAR/ACR 2013 criteria were included in study. Hand functionality was assessed using the DHI, Hand Functional Index (HFI) and visual analog scales (VAS) for disability and handicap. Overall disability and quality of life were measured using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Short Form-36 (SF-36). Reliability (Cronbach's alpha and ICC) and validity (face, content, convergent and divergent) were also analyzed and correlations with other measures assessed for construct validity of the DHI were examined.
Results: Seventy-three patients were included in the study, 78.1% were female. The baseline mean DHI score was 31.2 (SD: 20.2). Completion and calculation of the questionnaire were easy and took 5 min and 30 s, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was 0.973 and the ICC for test-retest reliability was 0.993 (95%CI 0.981-0.997), suggesting that the DHI has high internal consistency and a high degree of reliability. Cognitive debriefing showed that the DHI is clear, understandable, relevant, and covers many domains of daily life, indicating good face and content validity. The DHI demonstrated good to moderate correlations with functional measures indicating convergent validity and moderate to non-significant correlations with non-functional parameters that supported divergent validity. Cronbach's alpha was 0.973, indicating excellent internal consistency.
Conclusion: In SSc patients, specific tools for assessing hand function are lacking. The DHI is a practical, reliable and valid measurement tool for both clinical assessment and research in this disease affecting skin, tendons, subcutaneous tissue and arthritis.
期刊介绍:
RHEUMATOLOGY INTERNATIONAL is an independent journal reflecting world-wide progress in the research, diagnosis and treatment of the various rheumatic diseases. It is designed to serve researchers and clinicians in the field of rheumatology.
RHEUMATOLOGY INTERNATIONAL will cover all modern trends in clinical research as well as in the management of rheumatic diseases. Special emphasis will be given to public health issues related to rheumatic diseases, applying rheumatology research to clinical practice, epidemiology of rheumatic diseases, diagnostic tests for rheumatic diseases, patient reported outcomes (PROs) in rheumatology and evidence on education of rheumatology. Contributions to these topics will appear in the form of original publications, short communications, editorials, and reviews. "Letters to the editor" will be welcome as an enhancement to discussion. Basic science research, including in vitro or animal studies, is discouraged to submit, as we will only review studies on humans with an epidemological or clinical perspective. Case reports without a proper review of the literatura (Case-based Reviews) will not be published. Every effort will be made to ensure speed of publication while maintaining a high standard of contents and production.
Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human studies have been reviewed by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in an appropriate version of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted.