The Methods for Foot Function Index and Foot and Ankle Outcome Score Measurement: A Comparison between Paper-and-Pencil Method and Electronic Method / 대한족부족관절학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) is used to quantify the subjective state of patients before and after the treatment. The electronic method was recently developed and used for the completion of PROM, in addition to the conventional paper and pencil method. This study identified whether the results of Foot Function Index (FFI) and Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) using the paper and pencil method was different from those using the electronic method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between May 2016 and August 2016, 42 patients who were admitted to the Seoul Foot and Ankle Center two days before surgery were included for evaluation. The mean age was 46 years (range, 21~72 years). There were 29 males and 13 females. To use the electronic method, the PADAS software (PADAS, Seoul, Korea) was implemented using a touch pad. The primary trial of FFI and FAOS was performed using either the paper-and-pencil method or the electronic method. At 24 hours after the primary test, a secondary trial of FFI and FAOS was performed using the other method. Then, we identified the reliability of FFI and FAOS between the two methods by calculating the intraclass coefficient. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients underwent the first trial using the paper-and-pencil method, and 20 patients underwent the first trial using the electronic method. Of the 42 patients, 8 patients were excluded from this study and only 34 patients were included in this study. The reliability of FFI was excellent with an intraclass coefficient of 0.957, and the reliability of FAOS was also excellent with an intraclass coefficient of 0.840. CONCLUSION: The paper-and-pencil method and the electronic method have the same result for the completion of FFI and FAOS in this study. Therefore, it is commonly considered that the completion of FFI and FAOS using the electronic method can be applied in practice.