COMPARISON OF STANDARD AND ALTERNATIVE HEALTH ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE SCORING PROCEDURES FOR DOCUMENTING FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS
Gs. Tomlin et al., COMPARISON OF STANDARD AND ALTERNATIVE HEALTH ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE SCORING PROCEDURES FOR DOCUMENTING FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS, Journal of rheumatology, 23(9), 1996, pp. 1524-1530
Objective. To compare statistical properties of data from the Health A
ssessment Questionnaire (HAQ) with those from an alternative Version (
AHAQ) that used a different scoring system Fur the item categories and
disability index, Comparisons included descriptive statistics, correl
ations, and inferential statistics to determine whether the AHAQ would
be a more sensitive measure of change in functional status. Methods.
The subjects were 107 adults diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and h
ospitalized for exacerbations in their arthritis or arthritis related
joint surgery. Disability was assessed upon admission to hospital and
at one year followup with tile HAQ. AHAQ scores were generated for the
item categories making up the disability index by taking the mean of
the item scores in a category instead of the worst item score: the dis
ability index was the mean of the alternative category scores. Results
. The standard method of scoring the HAQ was found to generate greater
Variance on category scores, lower correlations between category scor
es and the total disability index, and lower correlations between firs
t and 2nd administrations of the instrument. compared to the AHAQ. HAQ
disability index scores also correlated slightly lower than those of
AHAQ to scores from the HAQ pain scales, and to scores from 2 other me
asures of functional disability. In addition, the AHAQ was found to be
more powerful in detecting functional changes at one year followup. C
onclusion. Because of its statistical properties the AHAQ scoring meth
od may be preferable to the HAQ method when the instrument is used for
documenting change in functional outcomes.