A systematic review on cross-cultural validations and psychometric solidity of the orthotics and prosthetics user survey

Abstract

Research is essential to reflect patients' satisfaction with their devices in the field of Prosthetics and Orthotics, record their performance and health-related quality of life. This requires culturally adapted questionnaires for each country. Periodic assessment of validity and test fit are essential elements for the long-term utility and effectiveness of psychometric tests. This article reviews the psychometric properties of the Orthotics and Prosthetics Users Survey (OPUS). The purpose, in addition to its adaptation to the Spanish-speaking population, involves a review/update of content, statistical analyses, and validity studies, until a larger number of studies are conducted. Study design: a Systematic review. A systematic literature search was carried out in specialized search engines: Alcorze (University of Zaragoza), MEDLINE (PubMed), and EMBASE of original articles published since 2000. Eleven items belonging to the OPUS were obtained, according to the language of the country where they were validated, and promising psychometric properties were confirmed (reflecting reliability values between 0.62 and 0.95; Cronbach's α scores between 0.73 and 0.98) with sample sizes between 10 and 321. The study concluded by stating that the OPUS was validated in different languages, reporting good psychometric robustness so far. Further deployment, refinement, and validation of this survey by country is warranted in view of its promising use.