The Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Questionnaire (SMFA): cross-cultural adaptation, validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Swedish SMFA (SMFA-Swe)

Abstract

The Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment Questionnaire (SMFA) is designed to measure the functional status of patients with a broad range of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders. It has previously been validated for an American population. We have translated the SMFA into Swedish and tested the translated version (SMFA-Swe) as regards validity, reliability and responsiveness. Acute and elective cases (n = 298) were included in the study. The Swedish version of the SF-36 was used in the validation. We found that the SMFA-Swe was easy to use, that its reliability (internal consistency and stability) was good, that it correlated well with the SF-36 physical scores and that it was also sensitive to changes in musculoskeletal function over time. Orthopedic studies frequently use disease-specific outcome measures because they are sensitive to the disorder studied. However, there may also be a need to evaluate function in groups of patients with different or multiple musculoskeletal disorders and, in such situations, the SMFA can be useful. We conclude that the SMFA-Swe is a valid instrument and can be used in clinical research as well as clinical practice when focusing on patients with various musculoskeletal disorders.