Measuring levels of upper-extremity disability in employed adults using the DASH questionnaire

Purpose: The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire is a standardized outcome measure that captures upper-extremity disability from the perspective of the patient and is used to study clinical outcomes in musculoskeletal disorders. To constitute a frame of reference for clinical values it is important for clinicians to be able to compare clinical DASH scores with those of nonclinical populations. We collected DASH data from a working population in Germany that was outside clinical considerations and used the data to identify disability levels among identified subgroups as a basis for future clinical comparisons. Methods: We evaluated the DASH data using a convenience sample of 716 employed adults. Separate analyses were performed for each of the DASH scores, which were grouped according to age, gender, and type of vocational activity. Results: The rank analysis of variance showed that statistically significant differences were found in Germany, differentiating between gender, age, and self-estimated vocational groups. Tests for interaction analyses of variance showed that increased disability was expressed as significantly higher mean DASH scores among older workers, female workers, and manual workers. Conclusions: This study provides comparative data for our clinical population and allows insight into current disability levels in a nonclinical population.