• Margaret W M Fok, H B Leung, and W M Lee.
• Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. margaretfok@netscape.net
• Hong Kong Med J. 2007 Oct 1; 13 (5): 342-7.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the application of a translated version of an established self-administered questionnaire for carpal tunnel syndrome on Chinese patients in Hong Kong.DesignEvaluation of an instrument tool.SettingDepartment of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong; Holistic Medical Centre, Aberdeen, Hong Kong.ParticipantsPatients with carpal tunnel syndrome, translators.Main Outcome MeasuresThe adaptation was based on forward-backward translation from English to Chinese (Hong Kong) and vice versa. Meetings with translators, investigators, and patients were organised to generate an acceptable version of the questionnaire. A pilot study was carried out on 20 patients and subsequently minor adjustments were added. Fifty patients were recruited to validate the reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire.ResultsThe ordinality of response agreed with the original instrument. Test-retest reproducibility showed no significant difference between tests. The Pearson correlation coefficient ranged from 0.83 to 0.93. Internal consistency was good, at 0.85.ConclusionThrough the validation of the Hong Kong Chinese version of the questionnaire, we are able to produce an assessment tool for the local patients. Furthermore, we are able to create a platform for: (i) a cross-national and cross-cultural epidemiological comparison as well as a means of (ii) evaluating different types of treatments.

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