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The translated Danish version of the Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool (WOMET) is reliable and responsive

Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy volume 29, pages 4278–4285 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool (WOMET) for use in Denmark and evaluate its test–retest reliability and comparative responsiveness.

Methods

Sixty patients (mean age 50 years (range 19–71 years), females 57%) with meniscal injury scheduled for arthroscopic meniscal surgery at a small Danish hospital in the period from September 2017 to February 2018 were included in this study. The WOMET was translated into Danish using forward and backward translation. The WOMET was completed at baseline (pre-surgery), at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Additionally, reliability was assessed at 3 months and 3 months plus 1 week, for patients with a stable symptom state (global response question) between test and retest. Comparative responsiveness was assessed between the WOMET and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS4—aggregate score of 4 of the 5 KOOS subscales).

Results

The Danish version of WOMET showed excellent test–retest reliability, intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.88 (95% CI 0.84–0.92) for the total score. The standard error of measurement was 125 points and the minimal detectable change was 347 points (i.e. 8% and 22% of the total score, respectively). The WOMET was responsive with an effect size (ES) of 1.12 at 6 months after surgery, which was comparable to the KOOS4 (ES 1.10).

Conclusion

The Danish version of the WOMET is a reliable and responsive measure of health-related quality of life in patients with meniscal pathology.

Level of evidence

Level II.

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Abbreviations

WOMET:

Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool

KOOS:

Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score

KOOS4:

Aggregate Score of 4 of the 5 KOOS Subscales

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

SEM:

Standard error of measurement

MDC:

Minimal detectable change

ES:

Effect size

PROM:

Patient-reported outcome measure

ADL:

Activities of daily living

QOL:

Quality of life

GRA:

Global response assessment

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Acknowledgements

We thank the nurses and surgeons at Silkeborg Regional Hospital for their great help in recruiting patients for this study.

Funding

There was no funding source.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elective Surgery Centre, Silkeborg Regional Hospital, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Jon M. Clementsen & Lone R. Mikkelsen

  2. Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Søren T. Skou, Sascha L. Hansen, Henrik Rode Eshøj & Jonas B. Thorlund

  3. Department of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Næstved-Slagelse-Ringsted Hospitals, Slagelse, Denmark

    Søren T. Skou

  4. Quality of Life Research Center, Department of Haematology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Henrik Rode Eshøj

  5. Department of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Aalborg University Hospital, Ålborg, Denmark

    Carsten M. Mølgaard

  6. Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Århus, Denmark

    Lone R. Mikkelsen

  7. Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Jonas B. Thorlund

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  1. Jon M. Clementsen
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Contributions

STS, HE and JBT conceived the study. JMC, SLH, HE, CMPM, LRM and JBT recruited patients, translated the WOMET and collected the data. JBT performed the analyses. JMC and JBT drafted the manuscript. All authors provided important intellectual feedback on the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jon M. Clementsen.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Dr. Skou is an Associate Editor of Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy and has received grants from The Lundbeck Foundation, personal fees from Munksgaard, all of which are outside the submitted work. STS also report to currently be funded by a grant from Region Zealand (Exercise First) and a grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 801790). Dr. Thorlund report a research grant from Pfizer outside the submitted work. The remaining authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Ethical approval

This study was approved exempted for notification to the Regional Ethics Committee according to Danish law. The study was approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all participants after thorough information about the study.

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Clementsen, J.M., Skou, S.T., Hansen, S.L. et al. The translated Danish version of the Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool (WOMET) is reliable and responsive. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 29, 4278–4285 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-021-06551-6

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Keywords

  • WOMET
  • KOOS
  • Meniscal tear
  • Quality of life
  • Translation
  • Validation