Health Literacy Level and Functional Outcomes in Patients With Hand and Forearm Injuries

Primary outcomes

1. European Health Literacy Scale

   Time frame: post-injury 12th week.

   The scale is based on a conceptual framework comprising three health-related domains (treatment, disease prevention, and health promotion) as well as four information-processing stages (accessing, understanding, appraising/decision-making, and applying health information). The instrument contains 47 items rated on a four-point Likert scale.The total score is standardized to range from 0 to 50. Health literacy levels are categorized as follows: (0-25): insufficient, (>25-33): problematic-limited, (>33-42): sufficient, (>42-50): excellent

2. Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire

   Time frame: post-injury 12th week

   The MHOQ assesses hand and wrist status across six domains: function, activities of daily living, work performance, pain, aesthetics, and patient satisfaction. It consists of 63 items addressing both hands. Each item is scored on a 1-5 scale, and each domain score is converted to a 0-100 scale. Except for the pain domain, higher scores indicate better outcomes

3. Grip strength

   Time frame: post-injury 12th week

   Grip strength was assessed according to the procedure recommended by the American Society of Hand Therapists. A Jamar dynamometer was used to evaluate gross grip strength. Measurements were performed with the patient seated without elbow support, the arm in adduction and neutral rotation, the elbow flexed at 90°, the forearm in a neutral position, and the wrist positioned in approximately 30° extension. Beginning with the dominant hand, measurements were taken on both sides. The mean value of three trials was recorded