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Linkages Between the Brief Michigan Hand Questionnaire and PROMIS Upper Extremity CATv2.0 Scores in Hand Surgery: A
Miranda J Rogers1, Aviram M Giladi2, Chong Zhang3
1University of Michigan, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ann Arbor, MI.
Purpose:
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) reported within the hand and upper extremity (UE) field are not standardized. The ability to compare or combine cohorts using different PROMs is limited by the use of a variety of outcome measures. This study aimed to develop a linkage for the PROMIS UE CAT v2.0 and the brief Michigan Hand Questionnaire (bMHQ) to allow interconversion between these PROMs in a hand surgery population.
Methods:
A retrospective review identified patients at a single academic tertiary care center who had completed PROMIS UE CAT v2.0 and the bMHQ instruments at the same clinical encounter. Minors and patients with elbow pathology were excluded. Only one randomly selected visit was included in the analyses for patients with multiple visits. Strength of the relationship between scores was evaluated using Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. Score linkage was performed using common linking methods. Linkage quality was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients and R squared comparing the linked scores with the observed. Subgroup analysis was performed based on age (<60 or ≥60 years) and the Area Deprivation Index.
Results:
A total of 7,269 patients were included. Mean PROMIS UE CAT v2.0 and bMHQ scores were 37 (SD = 11) and 54 (SD = 21), respectively. There was a strong positive correlation between the UE CAT v2.0 and bMHQ (Spearman r = 0.70). The equipercentile equating linkage model demonstrated strong performance (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.69, R2 = 0.39), and crosswalk tables were developed from this model. Subgroup biases of the linkage model were small, indicating that linking relationships were similar for older age and low area deprivation index.
Conclusions:
The PROMIS UE CAT v2.0 and bMHQ scores were successfully linked. Crosswalk tables allow for bidirectional score interconversion between these outcome measures.
Clinical Relevance:
This crosswalk study allows for conversion of scores between two commonly used PROMs.

