Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Korean Version of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire: Its Clinical Evaluation in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Following Local Corticosteroid Injection

• Published in: Journal of Korean medical science Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 1095 - 1099
• Main Authors: Park, Dong-Jin, Kang, Ji-Hyoun, Lee, Jeong-Won, Lee, Kyung-Eun, Wen, Lihui, Kim, Tae-Jong, Park, Yong-Wook, Nam, Tai-Seung, Kim, Myung-Sun, Lee, Shin-Seok
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 01.07.2013; 대한의학회
• Subjects: Adrenal Cortex Hormones - administration & dosage; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - drug therapy; Disability Evaluation; Humans; Injections; Original; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Prospective Studies; Republic of Korea; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Triamcinolone Acetonide - administration & dosage; Ultrasonography; 의학일반; Republic of Korea; Validation Studies; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1011-8934; 1598-6357; 1598-6357
• DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2013.28.7.1095

The aim of this study was to assess and validate the Korean version of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (K-BCTQ) in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). After translation and cultural adaptation of the BCTQ to a Korean version, the K-BCTQ was administered to 54 patients with CTS; it was administered again after 2 weeks to assess reliability. Additionally, we administered K-DASH and EQ-5D to assess construct-validity. In a prospective study of responsiveness to clinical change, 29 of 54 patients were treated by ultrasonography-guided local corticosteroid injection therapy. The internal consistency of the K-BCTQ was high (Cronbach's alpha: 0.915) and the intra-class correlation coefficients were 0.931 for the symptom severity scale (P<0.001) and 0.844 for the functional severity scale (P<0.001). The construct-validity between the symptom severity scale and the K-DASH, and between the functional severity scale and the K-DASH were significantly correlated (both P<0.001). Clinical improvement was noted in 29 patients with injection therapy. The effect size of symptom severity was 0.67, and that of functional severity was 0.58. In conclusion, the K-BCTQ shows good reliability, construct-validity, and acceptable responsiveness after local corticosteroid injection therapy (Clinical trial number, KCT0000050).