The Radboud skills questionnaire: construction and reliability in patientswith reflex sympathetic dystrophy of one upper extremity

Purpose: To construct a questionnaire to measure skills in which notably bo th hands are active, which is suitable for patients with a disease of one o r both hands and to research its response stability and possible improvemen ts. Method: Using the Dutch elaboration of the ICIDH and then experts in a Delp hi round, the questionnaire was constructed. Thereafter, test-retest and in ter-observer reliability was examined. Fifty-four patients with RSD in one upper extremity and a normal contralateral extremity participated in the st udy, the first twenty to evaluate the construction of the questionnaire and the others to test reliability. Results: The constructed Radboud skills questionnaire was reliable in terms of response stability (median coefficients of variation 2.2% to 6.6%). Cor relation's between categories of items were fair to good. Conclusions: A useful questionnaire was constructed to map alterations in t he level of disability in patients with a disease of one hand or both hands .