Validity, reliability and responsiveness of the French translation of the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation Questionnaire (PRWE)

Introduction: The patient-rated wrist evaluation questionnaire (PRWE) is a specific wrist questionnaire, developed in Canada that has been validated and proved reliable and sensitive. It assesses pain and function. Unfortunately, there was no validated French-language version. It is important that a translation should be methodologically rigorous, as both linguistic and cultural factors come into play.

Objective: To produce a French-language version of the PRWE, culturally adapted to the French-speaking populations of Europe and North America.

Materials and methods: A validated protocol was used to produce a French-language version of the PRWE (PRWE-Fr) that would be culturally acceptable for the French-speaking populations of Europe and North America. Reliability and responsiveness analyses were performed and PRWE-Fr scores were compared to F-QuickDASH-D/S (French translation of short-form Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand-Disability/Symptoms) scores to assess validity.

Results: A French-language version of the PRWE (PRWE-Fr) was accepted by a multinational committee, then validated in 65 French-speaking subjects, divided into 2 groups for analyses. A strong positive correlation was found between PRWE-Fr and F-QuickDASH-D/S scores. Comparison of results between two PRWE-Fr sessions at a 1-week interval found a very strong correlation (ρ=0.93; r²=0.868; p<0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient for total PRWE-Fr score demonstrated excellent reliability (ICC: 0.93; 95% CI: [0.859; 0.969]; p<0.001). Responsiveness analysis revealed greater sensitivity to change than for the F-QuickDASH-D/S (standardized response mean [SRM], 1.14 versus 1.04 respectively).

Discussion: A French-language version of the PRWE was produced and validated for use in French-speaking populations. It should facilitate evaluation of results in French-speaking settings, collaboration in multinational studies and comparison between studies performed in different countries.

Level of evidence: II; Multicenter cohort study.