Measuring levels of upper-extremity disability in employed adults using the DASH Questionnaire.

Abstract

The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire is a standardized outcome measure that captures upper-extremity disability from the perspective of the patient and is used to study clinical outcomes in musculoskeletal disorders. To constitute a frame of reference for clinical values it is important for clinicians to be able to compare clinical DASH scores with those of nonclinical populations. We collected DASH data from a working population in Germany that was outside clinical considerations and used the data to identify disability levels among identified subgroups as a basis for future clinical comparisons. We evaluated the DASH data using a convenience sample of 716 employed adults. Separate analyses were performed for each of the DASH scores, which were grouped according to age, gender, and type of vocational activity. The rank analysis of variance showed that statistically significant differences were found in Germany, differentiating between gender, age, and self-estimated vocational groups. Tests for interaction analyses of variance showed that increased disability was expressed as significantly higher mean DASH scores among older workers, female workers, and manual workers. This study provides comparative data for our clinical population and allows insight into current disability levels in a nonclinical population.