A telephone questionnaire in order to assess functional outcome after post-traumatic limb salvage surgery: Development and preliminary validation

• Published in: Injury Vol. 46; no. 12; pp. 2452 - 2456
• Main Authors: Wulterkens, Leonie, Aurégan, Jean-Charles, Letellier, Thomas, Mebtouche, Nasser, Levante, Stéphane, Cottin, Philippe, Bégué, Thierry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Disability Evaluation; Functional outcomes; Humans; Leg Injuries - psychology; Leg Injuries - rehabilitation; Leg Injuries - surgery; Limb Salvage - methods; Limb Salvage - psychology; Limb Salvage - rehabilitation; Limb salvage surgery; Lower limb; Middle Aged; Orthopedics; Prospective Studies; Recovery of Function; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires; Telephone; Telephone questionnaire; Treatment Outcome; Lower limb; Limb salvage surgery; Functional outcomes; Telephone questionnaire
• ISSN: 0020-1383; 1879-0267
• DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2015.09.023

Abstract Background Post-traumatic limb salvage surgery is challenging and evaluation of the results remains arduous. No questionnaire specifically assessing functional outcome after post-traumatic limb salvage surgery of the lower extremity exists. Due to regionalization of specialized care, the patients’ travel time to the hospital increases. To overcome a higher patients’ travel burden, patients’ follow up by telephone is an option. We aimed to develop a telephone questionnaire in order to assess functional outcome after post-traumatic limb salvage surgery of the lower extremity. Methods From a review of scores of functional assessment of the lower limb surgery, we have developed a telephone questionnaire. A prospective study was performed to validate this telephone questionnaire. Twenty patients were included. The participants were called to complete the telephone questionnaire twice with an interval of a week. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) was completed during the second telephone call. The internal consistency was analyzed by the Cronbach's alpha ( α ). With the outcome scores of both completions, the test–retest reliability was analyzed by the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 2, k with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The outcome scores of the second telephone questionnaire and the WOMAC questionnaire were used for the construct validity analysis by the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ( r s ) with a 95% CI. Results The internal consistency analysis revealed a α = 0.62 which improved to α = 0.92 after removing one question from the telephone questionnaire. The final version of the telephone questionnaire comprises 32 questions, divided in 3 subscales: function, daily life and psychology. The total score varies between 0 and 86 points. The test–retest reliability was ICC 2, k = 0.93 (95% CI: 0.82–0.97) and the construct validity was r s = 0.92 (95% CI: 0.81–0.97). Conclusions We present a specific telephone questionnaire in order to assess functional outcomes after posttraumatic limb salvage surgery of the lower extremity. Further research on a large number of patients will be necessary to validate this newly developed questionnaire.