Reliability and validity of the arthritis hand function test in adults with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma)

OBJECTIVE: To determine the interrater and test-retest reliability and validity of the Arthritis Hand Function Test (AHFT) in persons with systemic sclerosis. METHODS: Interrater reliability of the AHFT was established by two raters independently scoring the performances of 20 women with systemic sclerosis. The same group of subjects was tested again 7-10 days later to determine test-retest reliability. Concurrent validity was established by the subjects' self-reports of their abilities to perform activities of daily living as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire and the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 (AIMS2). RESULTS: All of the items had excellent interrater intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC = 0.99-1.00). The ICCs for test-retest reliability were in the excellent (ICC = 0.80-0.97) range for most of the items and moderate (ICC = 0.57-0.73) for the others. Most of the items were moderately correlated with items on the AIMS2 (r = 0.45-0.69). CONCLUSION: The results from this study suggest that the AHFT is a reliable and valid test to measure hand function in persons with systemic sclerosis.