The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was developed three decades ago by James F. Fries, MD, and colleagues at Stanford University (Fries et al. 1980) as a model of patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment for assessing physical function. Three reviews examined the HAQ’s history, its reliability, validity, and applicability (Bruce and Fries 2003; Ramey et al. 1992, 1995).
The HAQ has been administered globally and validated in patients with a wide variety of rheumatic diseases, HIV/AIDS, and in studies of normal aging, in diverse disciplines and different cultures, and in dozens of languages without impacting reliability or validity with properly designed adaptations. The HAQ is usually self-administered. However, it can be administered face-to-face or over telephone by a trained interviewer. Further, the HAQ has been validated for Internet administration (Bruce et.
