Comparison of the European Foot and Ankle Score (EFAS) and the Self-Reported Foot and Ankle Score (SEFAS) in patients with foot and ankle surgery

The European Foot and Ankle Score EFAS and the Self-reported Foot and Ankle Score SEFAS are two Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) used in foot and ankle surgery. The EFAS has been published in recent years, while the SEFAS is a validated questionnaire based on the New Zealand total ankle questionnaire.

We compared the EFAS to the SEFAS, Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) regarding reliability and validity based on the results of 126 patients undergoing foot and ankle surgery in a single center.

Both the EFAS and SEFAS demonstrate good psychometric properties with comparable reliability and validity. The EFAS questionnaire portrays pain and physical function as well as those well-established tools of SEFAS, NRS and SF-36.

In conclusion both the EFAS and SEFAS show good psychometric properties with comparable results for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, sensitivity to change and strong correlation for the corresponding domains describing pain and physical function.

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