Cross-cultural adaptation and clinical evaluation of a Korean version of the Work, Osteoarthritis or joint-Replacement Questionnaire

Background and aim The Work Osteoarthritis or joint-Replacement Questionnaire (WORQ) is a new assessment tool developed in the Netherlands. It needs translation and cross-cultural adaptation for use in each country. The aim of this study was to translate the Work Osteoarthritis or joint-Replacement Questionnaire into Korean and to verify its reliability and validity. Methods To evaluate the clinimetric quality of the Korean-WORQ, we performed tests for internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), reliability (intra-class correlation coefficients) and concurrent validity (Spearman’s correlation coefficient). Factor analysis was carried out to identify the principal components of the questionnaire. Findings Both the internal consistency and intra-class correlation coefficients showed the reliability of the Korean-WORQ to be excellent. The Korean-WORQ had a strong positive correlation with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index and three components were extracted in factor analysis. Conclusions Based on these results, the Korean-WORQ seems to be a suitable questionnaire for assessing the disability levels of patients with knee injuries.