Validity and Reliability of Arabic Version of Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire in Assessment of Hand Function Post-burn

Hand burns have a significant impact on the long-term function of burn patients. Recently, new protocols and technologies have been introduced for the treatment of hand burns. Hand burns can cause severe functional impairments since hand function is necessary to carry out daily activities and requires, but is not limited to, fine and gross dexterity, manipulating objects and various performance skills. Hand burns have also been associated with delayed return to work, which increases costs for the employer and decreases the chances for the employee to successfully return to work. hand function has a direct impact on the quality of life of burn survivors and is described as a strong predictive factor for reintegrating into society and the work setting (Corrales-Benitez et al., 2022).

Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire is a domain-specific questionnaire that was developed to be used as a standardized instrument capable of measuring outcomes for patients with all types of hand disorders. It was developed to measure health state domains that are important to patients with hand disorders. The instrument can be used to evaluate a patient before hand surgery and to monitor function after the surgery. The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire has been developed under rigorous psychometric principles as a multi-dimensional measure of the health status of patients with all types of hand and wrist impairments. This questionnaire assesses the right and left hand separately to avoid the dominance effect, differentiates between functional status and symptoms, and provides two unique scales such as aesthetics and satisfaction (Martínez et al.,2024; Oksuz t al., 2011).

So, this study will be designed to provide a guideline about the usefulness of Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire for assessment of hand function post burn, through assessing the validity and reliability of the questionnaire's Arabic version post burn to assist in planning an ideal treatment regimen for hand function rehabilitation post burn.