Reliability and validity of the Danish version of the disabilities of arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire in patients with fractured wrists

The disabilities of arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) questionnaire is a 30-item region-specific questionnaire that is used to measure the effect of treatment of the upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of, and validate, the Danish version of the DASH score in patients with fractured wrists. Sixty patients were studied. We investigated internal consistency and test-retest reliability, convergent validity, content validity and responsiveness. Time to complete questionnaire was 11 minutes and two questionnaires were not usable. The internal consistency was sufficient (Cronbach's alpha 0.96 and intraclass correlation coefficient 0.89). The difference in the mean was 4.6 (CI: 0.48 to 8.72, p == 0.03). Convergent validity at first and last control was high for both pain, 0.46 and 0.40 respectively, and for physical mobility, 0.64 and 0.65 respectively, indicating that results confirmed other similar scores. We conclude that the Danish version of the 30-item DASH questionnaire is valid and practical for patients with fractured wrists.