Importance of self-assessment in functional evaluation of trauma patients

The principle of self-assessment is performed successfully in a wide variety of medical disciplines and is increasingly gaining importance in orthopedic trauma surgery. Through the development and validation of joint-specific self-assessment questionnaires that enable estimation of the range of motion, alarge number of patient-based instruments are available for comprehensive follow-up examination. Arecently performed proof of concept study showed ahigh patient acceptance and therefore the development of aprospective, patient-centered fracture register based on the self-assessment functional analysis seems to be promising. The data obtained should reflect not only the reality of fracture treatment but also generate valuable epidemiological data with which evidence-based guidelines can be formed.