Studies in rehabilitation research put great value on patients' self-assessment. Patients with hip or knee diseases who need an orthopaedic rehabilitation suffer mainly pain, reduction of walking distance and other disabilities that impact on the activities of daily life. The Lequesne scores for the hip and knee are an indicator to show the degree of disabilities. The aim of the study was to prove that the Lequesne indices are reliable instruments for the individual to express the outcome of rehabilitation. We tested the Lequesne indices in daily clinical work, in the handling and in the acceptance.
Since May 1999 the rehabilitation center Bad Eilsen uses the Lequesne questionnaires as self-report questionnaire instruments for patients with hip and knee disabilities. 145 patients with hip and 122 patients with knee diseases filled in the questionnaires correctly and handed them back.
The Lequesne indices are able to show developments in both directions; improvement as well as change for the worse. The Lequesne questionnaires are helpful to complete the common clinical parameters.
Using the Lequesne questionnaires as a self-report instrument in our daily routine we are able to obtain a good reflection of individual health condition and the quality of outcome in rehabilitation.