The paper presents the translation of a new measurement tool, the DASH Questionnaire. The DASH (Disability of Arm--Shoulder--Hand) is an outcomes data collection instrument which has been developed by the "American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons", the Council of the "Musculoskeletal Specialty Societies", and the "Institute for Work and Health", in order to assess outcomes among patient groups with musculoskeletal disorders. Using a self-report system, patients attribute scores of 1 to 5 on 30 items relating to functional activities and symptoms; a further optional module contains four items relating to disability levels among musicians and athletes. The raw score is then transformed to a 0 to 100 scale, whereby 0 reflects minimum and 100 maximum disability. The subjective nature of this instrument makes it suitable for both postal or in situ clinical surveys. The instrument is in the process of validation for use with a German population.

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The Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire is a standardized measure which captures the patients' own perspective of their upper extremity health status. Based on the scores of the DASH modules: symptoms, function and sport, this follow-up study of 590 hand-injured subjects from 11 diagnostic groups evaluated impairments and disabilities perceived 2 to 5 years postoperatively. Secondly, we explored the relationships between the diagnostic groups at the individual DASH item level. Exploratory testing of statistical significance showed that the DASH modules differentiated well among the groups (ANOVA P-value 0.001) and further differences existed at the item level, so that functional activity problem profiles could be developed for each diagnostic group. Our findings confirm that the DASH is a useful instrument for outcome evaluation. Moreover, in view of the continuing challenge to provide comprehensive care which meets patients' needs in the shortest space of time, we consider that DASH has potential in the development of patient-centred treatment programmes which are tailored to the individual patients' requirements and have relevance to their daily activities.

The Disability of Arm, Shoulder, Hand (DASH) Version 2.0 questionnaire captures the subjective experience of patients regarding their own health. This 78-item instrument was developed by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), the Council of Musculoskeletal Specialty Societies and the Institute for Work and Health,Toronto and measures components of health-status relevant to upper-extremity conditions. We translated and validated DASH with the aim of producing a tool which could also be used in German-speaking countries. The paper reports the method of translation and cross-cultural adaptation which was carried out according to the AAOS guidelines. The result was a standardised German version of DASH. Psychometric testing of the translated questionnaire was carried out with 6 samples (n=342) who had undergone hand surgery for a variety of conditions. The study yielded good results across all groups with regard to the construct, criterion and content validity. We confirm that the German version is suitable for use in future studies.