Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Adolfsson-Björnsson Upper Extremity Activity Scale (ABAS)

Activity limitation is a common problem in individuals with upper extremity disorders. Many conditions involving the shoulder complex such as traumatic and non-traumatic upper extremity pain, subacromial impingement, postoperative pain, rotator sheath tears, rotator sheath tendinopathy, shoulder arthritis, adhesive capsulitis, shoulder instabilities may lead to limitations in activities of daily living due to pain and/or symptoms. Therefore, evaluation of upper extremity activities and determination of possible limitations have an important place in the management of the disease process.

Until now, symptom-related activities of daily living in patients with upper limb disorders have often been assessed with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) and the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI). However, in the development of these scales, only statements describing specific activities were used and items were not scored from easy to difficult according to activity level. There is no scale specifically developed for upper extremity pathologies that grades upper extremity activity level according to a certain level of difficulty. In order to fill this gap in the literature, Adolfsson et al. developed 'The Adolfsson-Björnsson Upper Extremity Activity Scale (ABAS)' to evaluate activities of daily living according to the perceived difficulty level in individuals with upper extremity injuries. Cross-cultural adaptation, validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the ABAS have not been studied.

The aim of this study was to make a cross-cultural Turkish adaptation of the 'The Adolfsson-Björnsson Upper Extremity Activity Scale (ABAS)' and to investigate the validity, reliability and psychometric properties of the Turkish version on individuals with upper extremity disorders.