Translation and validation of the Arabic version of the Boston carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE

To translate and validate the Arabic version of the Boston carpal tunnel questionnaire (BCTQ-A).

METHODS

We recruited consecutive patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Reliability was assessed with Cronbach alpha, reproducibility with intraclass correlation coefficients, construct validity with factor analysis, and responsiveness post carpal tunnel release (CTR) with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

RESULTS

In 134 patients, the mean total scores for the symptom severity scale (SSS) and functional status scale (FSS) were 32.0+/-8.4 (alpha=0.88, ICC=0.88) and 18.5+/-7.6 (alpha=0.87, ICC=0.89), respectively. As in the original Boston carpal tunnel questionnaire (BCTQ), a 3-factor model of the BCTQ-A best fitted the data. The BCTQ-A, SSS, and FSS scores were significantly lower post-CTR.

CONCLUSION

The BCTQ-A is reliable, valid, reproducible, and responsive to interventions. The Arabic version can be now used with Arabic-speaking patients with CTS.