A nursing perspective on the assessment of function in persons with arthritis.

The psychometric properties of two self-administered measures of function were examined: the Disability Score of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the Total Health Score of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS). Data from 140 respondents were analyzed. Respondents had diagnoses of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or diabetes mellitus; resided in rural and urban areas; and were for the most part elderly, female, and white, with educational levels of high school or below. Reliabilities (test-retest and internal consistency) of both measures were high. The concurrent validity also was high. Content analysis suggested the HAQ represented the scope of nursing practice better than the AIMS. An exploratory principal components analysis confirmed that the HAQ is relevant to nursing practice.