Disabilities of the Arm,Shoulder, and Hand

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Introduction

At the moment, various instruments are being used to a measure upper extremity functional use (e.g. DASH instrument [Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand]). Some of these instruments are general, while others are more condition-specific. The most widely used instrument is the “The disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) questionnaire”, which was founded and introduced by American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. According to the article by Gummesson, Atroshi & Ekdahl (2003), this instrument is self – administered and it’s used to measure self –rated upper extremity condition, as well as symptoms.

The disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) questionnaire

In relation to the methods used, the main component of DASH questionnaire is a symptom/disability scale, which consists of 30 items concerning the health status of the patient during the prior week. The items in the scale consists of 21 questions asking the degree of impenetrability in performing different types of tasks resulting from DASH injuries ,5 questions concentrates on the symptoms and the severity of each sign and symptoms ,while the remain 4 questions handle issue relating to the impact of the condition on social activities, self image ,and personal development. All the above items tend to have 5 reply alternatives or options, with the score ranging from 0 – 100 (0 - meaning no disability, while 100 - reflecting most critical disability).The score obtained after analysis of the scale is referred to as DASH score. The items contained in the questionnaire are used in asking the degree of difficulty that the patient experiences in undertaking different physical activities owing to problems of the shoulder or hand. The questionnair...

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...cle by Gummesson, Atroshi & Ekdahl (2003), The DASH instrument in this particular situation was specifically used to analyze and access the longitudinal construct validity of the DASH amongst patients undertaking surgery, while the second function was to chiefly measure self-rated healing efficacy after surgery.

Works Cited

Beaton D. et al. (2001). Measuring the whole or the parts? Validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand outcome measure in different regions of the upper extremity. J Hand Ther. 14:128–146.

Gummesson, C ., Atroshi, I & Ekdahl,C .(2003).The disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) outcome questionnaire: longitudinal construct validity and measuring self- rated health change after surgery. BMC Musculoskelet Disord.; 4: 11. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-4-11.

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