Reliability of Hong Kong Chinese version of the Patient-rated Forearm
Evaluation Questionnaire for lateral epicondylitis

HB Leung, CH Yen, PYT Tse
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Kwong Wah Hospital, Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

OBJECTIVE. To determine the reliability and validity of a dedicated assessment
tool for lateral epicondylitis after translation into Hong Kong Chinese.

DESIGN. Cross-sectional study.

SETTING. District hospital, Hong Kong.

PATIENTS. Seventy-four patients, 12 of whom were bilingual, were recruited (total of 82 elbows).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Translation equivalence and reliability were measured with the test-retest method. Validity was measured against the Roles and Maudsley outcome score and mean maximal grip strength.

RESULT. The Patient-rated Forearm Evaluation Questionnaire had high English-Chinese equivalence (Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient=0.926; P<0.001). It was also very reliable (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.99; P<0.001). Validity according to the Roles and Maudsley outcome score and mean of maximal grip strength was significant (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION. The Hong Kong Chinese version of Patient-rated Forearm Evaluation Questionnaire is a reliable and valid assessment tool for chronic lateral epicondylitis. Its equivalence to the original English version makes outcome assessment across cultural barrier feasible.

Hong Kong Med J 2004;10:172-7

Key words: Outcome assessment; Questionnaires; Tennis elbow