Reliability and validity of the Arthritis Hand Function Test in adults with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma).

Abstract

To determine the interrater and test-retest reliability and validity of the Arthritis Hand Function Test (AHFT) in persons with systemic sclerosis. Interrater reliability of the AHFT was established by two raters independently scoring the performances of 20 women with systemic sclerosis. The same group of subjects was tested again 7-10 days later to determine test-retest reliability. Concurrent validity was established by the subjects' self-reports of their abilities to perform activities of daily living as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire and the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 (AIMS2). All of the items had excellent interrater intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC = 0.99-1.00). The ICCs for test-retest reliability were in the excellent (ICC = 0.80-0.97) range for most of the items and moderate (ICC = 0.57-0.73) for the others. Most of the items were moderately correlated with items on the AIMS2 (r = 0.45-0.69). The results from this study suggest that the AHFT is a reliable and valid test to measure hand function in persons with systemic sclerosis.