QuickDASH Scores Do Not Differ Between Dominant Versus Nondominant-Sided Upper Extremity Injuries: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis.

Authors

Calvin Wang, Maryam Zafar, Julia Fekete, Anirudh Kulkarni, Thomas Doss, Anisha Prakash, Jomar N Aryee, David Kirschenbaum, Brian M Katt

Published in

Hand (New York, N.Y.). Pages 15589447261496466. Nov 12, 2026. Epub Nov 12, 2026.

Abstract

The purpose of this retrospective cohort analysis was to examine whether hand dominance influenced patient-reported functional recovery, as reflected by changes in QuickDASH scores, during the 6 months after elective upper extremity surgery. We also sought to understand whether the degree of QuickDASH improvement differed by surgical location along the upper extremity.
Surgical conditions were classified as either distal (hand/wrist) or proximal (elbow/shoulder). QuickDASH scores were analyzed at 3 time points: preoperatively, 3 months, and 6 months. Between-group comparisons (dominant vs nondominant injury) at each timepoint were performed using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, with change in QuickDASH score as the outcome. Longitudinal changes within patients were assessed using a linear mixed-effects model with QuickDASH as the outcome.
We analyzed 1692 patients meeting criteria; 97.2% of these had distal injuries, and the remaining 2.7% had proximal injuries. Of distal injuries, 56.3% were dominant-sided injuries; 50% of proximal injuries were dominant-sided. From preoperatively to 3 and 6 months postoperatively, QuickDASH scores decreased for all patients, indicating improved upper extremity function. Between-group comparisons revealed no differences in QuickDASH scores at any timepoint for dominant or nondominant injuries (all P > .05, Wilcoxon). The linear mixed-effects model confirmed a statistically significant reduction in QuickDASH scores over time (P < .001), but no significant interaction between timepoint and dominant-hand status or proximal/distal injury was observed.
Our findings suggest hand dominance and qDASH outcomes are not associated, suggesting similar recovery trajectories for dominant and nondominant injuries across proximal and distal locations.

PMID:
43018262
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Nov 2026.

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