This study investigated the validity and reliability of Turkish versions of the Waterloo Handedness and Footedness Questionnaire-Revised (WHQ-R and WFQ-R). Turkish versions of the WHQ-R and the WFQ-R, and other assessments (the Handedness Questionnaire and the Footedness Preference Test) were applied to 444 healthy participants aged between 18 and 65 years. The translation and cultural adaptation process of the WHQ-R and the WFQ-R was provided by the following proposed guideline. For test-retest reliability, translated versions were re-applied to 88 participants in a 7-day interval. Cronbach’s alpha of the WHQ-R was 0.984 and that of the WFQ was 0.905. The test-retest intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) of the WHQ-R varied from 0.741 to 0.933 and those of the WFQ-R from 0.649 to 0.814. There were moderate to strong correlations between the WHQ-R and the Handedness Questionnaire (r = −853, p < 0.001) and between the WFQ-R and the Footedness Preference Test (r = −0.687, p < 0.001). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure of the WHQ-R and the WFQ-R. The results of this study demonstrated that Turkish versions of the WHQ-R and the WFQ-R are reliable and valid inventories for assessing handedness and footedness in this population.
The aim of the study was to discriminate the risk of falling in patients with Multiple Sclerosis with low to moderate impairment who do not use walking aid using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test. This study was planned as a prospective descriptive study with 204 patients. Falls were recorded in three-month prospective diaries, and the balance was evaluated using the TUG Test. By using three-month prospective diaries, the mean age of 109 faller patients and 95 non-faller patients was 35.87 ± 8.35 and 35.35 ± 9.39 years, respectively. The faller group's mean TUG Test score was 9.46 ± 4.14, whereas the non-faller group's was 7.74 ± 2.02 s. The TUG Test has an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.666 in discriminating fallers from non-fallers (0.592-0.740, %95 Cl). To identify fallers, the TUG Test score of ≥7.85 s has a sensitivity of 0.65 and a specificity of 0.65. As a result of the present study, the TUG Test was found to have moderate sensitivity and specificity in predicting the risk of falling. It is not a sufficient stand-alone measure for fall risk prediction, so it is recommended that this test be included as part of a comprehensive falls screening programme.