COMPARISON OF THE WOMAC (WESTERN ONTARIO AND MCMASTER UNIVERSITIES) OSTEOARTHRITIS INDEX AND A SELF-REPORT FORMAT OF THE SELF-ADMINISTERED LEQUESNE-ALGOFUNCTIONAL INDEX IN PATIENTS WITH KNEE AND HIP OSTEOARTHRITIS

Objective: To compare the metric properties and validity of German ver sions of the WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities) and a s elf-administered questionnaire-format of the Lequesne-Algofunctional-I ndex in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the lower extremities. De sign: Cross-sectional analysis of the instruments' internal consistenc y (Cronbach's coefficient alpha) and construct validity (correlation w ith radiological OA-severity and limitation in range-of-motion) in amb ulatory patients and patients before hip arthroplasty. Test-retest rel iability was assessed on a subsample after 10 days. Results: Data from 51 patients out of 91 contacted could be analyzed. Twenty-nine patien ts had knee and 22 patients had hip OA. Both the WOMAC and Lequesne OA -indices and their scales or sections had a satisfactory test-retest r eliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient 0.43-0.06). All scales of the WOMAC were internally consistent (Cronbach's coefficient alpha 0.81-0.96) and associated with radiological OA-severity and joint rang e of motion. However, only the function but not the symptom sections ( Cronbach's coefficient alpha knee: 0.55; hip: 0.63) of the self-admini stered Lequesne OA index were internally consistent for both, patients with knee and hip OA. Also, the symptom components were not or only w eakly associated with radiological OA-severity and joint range of moti on. Conclusions: Although our results are based on a German version us ing a self-report format we may caution using the self-administered Le quesne OA index without prior testing of its metric properties and val idity.