Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026
Therapy Interventions for Upper Limb Amputees Undergoing Selective Nerve Transfers
Published on: October 29, 2021
[Translation and psychometric testing of the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) for use in Germany]
W Huber1, J G Hofstaetter, B Hanslik-Schnabel
1Universitätsklinik für Orthopädie, Wien. w.huber@univie.ac.at
Aim:
At the moment a specific subjective measurement tool for evaluation of German-speaking patients with a pathology of the rotator cuff is lacking. Following international guidelines, the German translation and the psychometric testing of the 21-item, multidimensional Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) is the aim of the study.
Method:
After translation and cross-culture adaptation of the English original, the reliability, validity, practicability and the acceptance of the German version of the WORC were tested on 102 patients with an impingement syndrome. Additionally the SF-36, the Constant and UCLA score were evaluated.
Results:
The Pearson correlation coefficient showed with 0.96 an excellent result for the test-retest reliability. The internal consistency showed a high homogeneity with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.96. A Pearson correlation coefficient between 0.66-0.81 registered a high correlation with the physical subscales of the SF-36, the Constant and the UCLA score. The mean time required for filling out the WORC was 7.5 minutes, the mean time required for evaluation was 10 minutes. The acceptance and the understanding were very high.
Conclusion:
After successful translation and psychometric testing of the German version of the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC), a patient-based measurement tool for evaluating the quality of life of German-speaking patients with pathology of the rotator cuff is available.
