1 Before you use it
What it is
The default hip PROM, and the green substitute for both WOMAC and the Oxford Hip Score. Forty items across five subscales — pain, symptoms, activities of daily living, sport and recreation, and hip-related quality of life.
HOOS-12 exists and is the version to reach for on a busy list.
When to reach for it
Baseline and reassessment for hip osteoarthritis and any hip presentation. Ten minutes for the full version, three for HOOS-12.
In a younger, active hip — FAI or labral — iHOT-12 or HOS is more responsive.
2 Giving it
Scoring
Each subscale is scored separately, 0–100, where 100 is no problems. Never report a single total — the subscales are the instrument.
WOMAC is contained inside HOOS, so a HOOS gives you a WOMAC score without needing the WOMAC licence.
What it doesn’t measure
Groin-specific and sport-specific demand. For groin pain use HAGOS. And it doesn't measure strength — a single-leg heel raise, hip abduction dynamometry and a functional task all sit outside it.
Repeat it
3 Reading the score
Interpreting it
Higher is better. Interpret against baseline.
The sport/recreation and quality-of-life subscales are the ones that separate patients. Two people with identical ADL scores can be living completely different lives, and that gap is where your treatment aims.
Is the change real?
On placement
Hip OA, 12 weeks of an education-and-exercise programme. HOOS Pain 48 → 61; Physical Function 55 → 62; QoL 31 → 38.
Read it as Pain up 13, over the 9.2-point MCID; function up 7, under its 9.3. Both figures were measured in a hip resurfacing cohort, so the transfer to a non-operative outpatient is an assumption — say so in the notes. QoL moved 7 and carries no verified figure here.
Do pain has responded; function hasn't yet. Weight the next block toward the sport/recreation and QoL items — they are where two patients with the same ADL score live different lives.
Student trap. Averaging the five subscales into one number. That's not how it works, and it hides the two subscales that actually matter.
Official source: koos.nu. We don't host the form.
This is a learning tool. It does not diagnose patients and does not replace your clinical educator.
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