LAUSR

BACKGROUND & Objective: There is strong evidence regarding impaired knee self-perception in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Currently, the Fremantle Knee Awareness Questionnaire (FreKAQ) has been developed to evaluate knee self-perception. This study aimed to evaluate validity and reliability of the Persian version of FreKAQ in patients with chronic knee OA. MATERIALS AND METHODS The FreKAQ was translated via forward-backward translation. In total, 312 patients with chronic knee OA completed the questionnaire, and the construct validity of the instrument was evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA). Moreover, its reliability was confirmed using internal consistency and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In addition, intra-class correlation coefficient and standard error measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC) were used to assess its relative and absolute consistency. Therefore 50 patients, completed the questionnaire twice at one-week intervals. RESULTS In EFA, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (0.705) and Bartlett's tests were significant (P < 0.001), and CFA also indicated acceptable fitting with three factors. Moreover, the indices of PNFI = 0.57, PCFI = 0.60, χ2/DF = 1.14, AGFI = 0.95, GFI = 0.97, and RMSEA = 0.027 confirmed the goodness of fit of the model. The Cronbach's alpha and repeatability were estimated at 0.817 and 0.874, respectively, and the SEM and MDC was 2.13, 4.91. CONCLUSION According to the results, the Persian version of FreKAQ had proper construct validity and reliability to evaluate the impairment of knee self-perception in patients with chronic knee OA.