Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2007 May;12(3):241-8.
doi: 10.1007/s00776-007-1119-0. Epub 2007 May 31.

Japanese Orthopaedic Association Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire (JOACMEQ): Part 2. Endorsement of the alternative item

Mitsuru Fukui  1 , Kazuhiro Chiba, Mamoru Kawakami, Shin-Ichi Kikuchi, Shin-Ichi Konno, Masabumi Miyamoto, Atsushi Seichi, Tadashi Shimamura, Osamu Shirado, Toshihiko Taguchi, Kazuhisa Takahashi, Katsushi Takeshita, Toshikazu Tani, Yoshiaki Toyama, Eiji Wada, Kazuo Yonenobu, Takashi Tanaka, Yoshio Hirota; Subcommittee on Low Back Pain and Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation of the Clinical Outcome Committee of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Japanese Orthopaedic Association Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire (JOACMEQ): Part 2. Endorsement of the alternative item

Mitsuru Fukui et al. J Orthop Sci. 2007 May.

Abstract

Background: A new self-administered questionnaire as an outcome measure for patients with cervical myelopathy was drawn up in Part 1 (Japanese Orthopaedic Association Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire, JOACMEQ). Because a question with regard to driving a car (C-41) was not suitable for this patient group, the authors composed an alternative question related to neck motion (C-41-2). The purposes of the present study were to perform a secondary survey on patients with cervical myelopathy and to statistically analyze the responses to validate the JOACMEQ, and also to determine if it was possible to convert item C-41 to the alternative question.

Methods: A member of the Subcommittee on Low Back Pain and Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation from each hospital administered the questionnaire to more than 50 patients with cervical myelopathy in each hospital. The questionnaire consisted of 25 questions, 24 of which were extracted in the primary survey. The authors statistically examined whether it was possible to convert question C-41 to C-41-2.

Results: Three hundred and sixty-eight patients with cervical myelopathy were enrolled in the present study. No questions elicited no answer or "I am not sure" in more than 5% of patients except question C-41. There were no questions that the patients answered with difficulty. There was no tendency that was concentrated on one option as an answer to questions. There was a high correlation between questions C-41 and C-41-2. Spearman's correlation coefficient and kappa value showed that there was high coincidence between the two questions C-41 and C-41-2. It is possible to convert the question C-41 to the alternative question C41-2.

Conclusion: The questionnaire has sufficient reliability for clinical use. It is possible that the JOACMEQ will prevail and become a global standard to evaluate outcomes in patients with cervical myelopathy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. The Study Group for new JOA score An outcome measure for patients with cervical myelopathy: New Japanese Orthopaedic Association score: Part 1. J Orthop Sci. 2007;12:227–40. doi: 10.1007/s00776-007-1118-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Japanese Orthopaedic Association score for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. J Jpn Orthop Assoc 1975;99: prefatory note (in Japanese)
    1. Revised Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores for cervical myelopathy. J Jpn Orthop Assoc 1994;68:490–503 (in Japanese)
    1. Fukuhara S, Suzugamo Y, Bito S, Kurokawa K. Manual of SF-36: Japanese version 1.2. Tokyo: Public Health Research Foundation; 2001.
    1. Fukui M, Hirota Y. Basic knowledge to establish criteria for the assessment of medical treatment. Spine Spinal Cord. 2004;17:18–25.