Purpose: The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) to Dutch and to validate the translated version.
Methods: The TESS lower and upper extremity versions (LE and UE) were translated to Dutch according to international guidelines. The translated version was validated in 98 patients with surgically treated bone or soft tissue tumors of the LE or UE. To assess test-retest reliability, participants were asked to fill in a second questionnaire after one week. Construct validity was determined by computing Spearman rank correlations with the Short Form- (SF-) 36.
Results: The internal consistency (0.957 and 0.938 for LE and UE, resp.) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients 0.963 and 0.969 for LE and UE, resp.) were good for both questionnaires. The Dutch LE and UE TESS versions correlated most strongly with the SF-36 physical function dimension (r = 0.737 for LE, 0.726 for UE) and the physical component summary score (r = 0.811 and 0.797 for LE and UE).
Interpretation: The Dutch TESS questionnaire for lower and upper extremities is a consistent, reliable, and valid instrument to measure patient-reported physical function in surgically treated patients with a soft tissue or bone tumor.