Abstract
Background: The Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) index is a self-report questionnaire that measures the disease-specific quality of life in patients with rotator cuff injuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Taiwanese version of WORC (T-WORC) in patients with rotator cuff tear (RCT) before surgery. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The study was composed of two phases: translation of the WORC into Taiwanese version of WORC, and 210 patients with rotator cuff tear before surgery completed the questionnaire twice within 2 weeks. The main outcome measures included reliability and validity. Reliability was assessed with internal consistency and test-retest. Internal consistency was assessed using the Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was evaluated by examining convergent, divergent, known-group validity, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Results: The T-WORC demonstrated satisfactory reliability with the Cronbach's alpha of .94, and ICC (2 week-interval) of .79. The convergent validity showed that the T-WORC was significantly positively correlated with the disability of the arm, shoulder, and hand and numerical rating scales of pain, but negatively correlated with the Short Form-12. The divergent validity was shown by the low correlation between T-WORC and state anger scale. The known-group validity showed a significant difference between the high pain group and the low pain group. The EFA revealed 4 factors, daily activities and function, physical symptoms, emotion, and shoulder clicking and recreation, which explained 66.13 % of the variance. Conclusions: The findings of this study did not support the 5-domain structure proposed by the original version. Nevertheless, the T-WORC still demonstrated adequate psychometric properties and could be a useful instrument for assessing the RCT patients' quality of life before surgery.
Does Rotator Cuff Repair Improve Psychologic Status and Quality of Life in Patients With Rotator Cuff Tear?
