Arthritis Research UK Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire shows benefits in new study

Published by Arthritis Research UK | 22 August 2016 

Arthritis Research UK-backed scientists have developed a potentially groundbreaking new tool that could make it easier for medical professionals to assess patients with musculoskeletal health problems.

The Arthritis Research UK Musculoskeletal Health Questionnaire (MSK-HQ) was recently evaluated by a team from the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre at Keele University, demonstrating the significant benefits it can offer.

How the questionnaire works

Currently, the tools used to measure musculoskeletal outcomes tend to vary between different healthcare settings and conditions; as such, there is a pressing need for a unified system of measuring outcomes that can be applied throughout the care process for patients with different musculoskeletal conditions.

The MSK-HQ is a short questionnaire that allows people with conditions such as arthritis or back pain to report their symptoms and quality of life in a standardised manner, developed with the active participation and feedback from patients, clinicians and academics.

This has made it possible to set out holistic indicators - including pain severity, physical function, work and social interference, sleep patterns, fatigue, emotional health, physical activity, independence, understanding, confidence to self-manage and overall impact - reflecting how well services are improving quality of life for people with these conditions.

The benefits

In this new study, published in the British Medical Journal, the questionnaire was assessed among 570 participants, with patients generally reporting that the tool was highly relevant and easy to understand.

A completion rate of 94.2 per cent was recorded, with the results of the test generally found to be reliable, reproducible and within expected parameters. As such, the researchers concluded that MSK-HQ "had high completion rates, excellent test-retest reliability and strong convergent validity with reference standards".

Further validation studies are now being carried out to assess the performance of the questionnaire among a broader spectrum of patients, including a cohort with rheumatoid or inflammatory arthritis.

The view from NHS England

Professor Peter Kay, national clinical director for musculoskeletal services at NHS England, said: "The MSK-HQ is a useful, validated tool, whose piloting was co-funded by NHS England and Arthritis Research UK. The tool was developed by Keele University and the University of Oxford in partnership with people with musculoskeletal conditions. It was initially piloted in physiotherapy, people referred for orthopaedic surgery on their knee, hip or shoulder and rheumatology outpatient clinics, and is now being used by a number of clinical commissioning groups and musculoskeletal service providers.

"The MSK-HQ has the potential to become the marker of musculoskeletal health in the way that blood pressure is in cardiovascular health. This useful tool can also help us to understand the quality and value of musculoskeletal health services and will be of particular interest to those involved in the national MSK Networks project."

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