Reliability and validity of measurement and associations between disability and behavioural factors in patients with Colles' fracture

The aims of the study were to 1) investigate the test-retest reliability, the internal consistency in instruments that measure behavioural factors and disability as well as to investigate convergent validity between the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Outcome Questionnaire (DASH) and the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE), in patients with Colles' fracture; and 2) assess the relationship between the behavioural measures and the region-specific measures addressing the patient perceptions of impairment, functional loss, and disability. Two samples (sample 1?=?16; sample 2?=?16) of patients with the fracture immobilised in plaster cast were included. The participants answered the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Outcome Questionnaire (DASH), Tampa Scale of Kinesophobia (TSK), Catastrophizing Subscale (CAT) of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ), and Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) twice. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory for all instruments. The internal consistency examined with Cronbach's alpha was between 0.68 and 0.97. Because acceptable to good test-retest reliability and internal consistency were demonstrated for the PRWE, DASH, TSK, CAT of the CSQ, and SES, they can be used to detect and monitor fear of movement/(re)injury, catastrophic cognitions, and self-efficacy in patients with radius fracture in the acute and subacute phase. Generally low to moderate correlations were found between behavioural and region-specific measures, indicating that there are two distinct concepts that are not interchangeable.