Background: The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) is one of the most frequently used instruments to assess functional capacity in activities of daily living.
Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the reproducibility and validity of an Argentinean version of the HAQ disability index (HAQ-DI) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: Consecutive adult patients with RA from 3 different provinces in Argentina were included. The original English version of the HAQ-DI was translated and adapted into Spanish by 3 rheumatologists and the final version back translated into English by a bilingual person. The reproducibility of the questionnaire was assessed in 30 patients who came for a second visit 3 to 5 days later. The cross-sectional construct validity was assessed by comparing the HAQ with classic parameters of disease activity (number of swollen and tender joints, patient and physician visual analog scale for pain and activity as well as functional class, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein.
Results: Two hundred patients with RA were included. The reproducibility was r = 0.97 (P = 1 x 10-5); intraitem correlation analysis did not show any redundancy. Correlation between HAQ-A and parameters of disease activity were all significant. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the main variables associated with HAQ-A scores were visual analog scale for pain and duration of morning stiffness. A weak although significant negative correlation was found between the HAQ-A and economic level (r = -0.21, P = 0.03). The median time to complete the questionnaire was 5 minutes and there were no problems with any questions.
Conclusion: This version of the HAQ-DI would allow for more availability so that Spanish-speaking countries can select the version most suitable to their sociocultural environment.