(1) Background: The UCLA GIT 2.0 questionnaire has been recognized as a feasible and reliable instrument to assess gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients and their impact on quality of life. The aim of this study was to create and validate UCLA GIT 2.0 for Portuguese patients with SSc. (2) Methods: A multi-center study was conducted enrolling SSc patients. UCLA GIT 2.0 was validated in Portuguese using reliability (internal consistency, item–total correlation, and reproducibility) and validity (content, construct, and criterion) tests. Criterion tests included EQ-5D and SF-36v2. Social–demographic and clinical data were collected. (3) Results: 102 SSc patients were included, 82.4% of them female, and with a mean sample age of 57.0 ± 12.5 years old. The limited form of SSc was present in 62% of the patients and 56.9% had fewer than five years of disease duration. Almost 60% presented with SSc-GI involvement with a negative impact on quality of life. The means for SF-36v2 were 39.3 ± 10.3 in the physical component summary and 47.5 ± 12.1 in the mental component summary. Total GI score, reported as mild in 57.8% of the patients, was highly reliable (ICC = 0.912) and the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.954. There was a high correlation between the total GI score and EQ-5D-5L and SF-36v2 scores. (4) Conclusion: The Portuguese version of UCLA GIT 2.0 showed good psychometric properties and can be used in research and clinical practice.
Background The Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) was completed with five visual analogue scales (VAS) to assess systemic sclerosis (SSc). These VAS address overall disease severity, Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital tip ulcers, gastrointestinal and lung symptoms. The new functional measurement instrument is called Scleroderma HAQ (SHAQ). It aims to perform a validation of the European Portuguese version of SHAQ for patients with SSc.Methods Patients with different forms of SSc from five Hospital Centres’ Rheumatology Departments were invited. The reliability of the Portuguese SHAQ was evaluated by internal consistency, using the Cronbach’s α, and by test-retest reliability, using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was assessed by structural validity using factor analysis, and by known-groups hypotheses tests. Criterion validity was addressed by Pearson’s correlation with selected dimensions from the University of California Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract Instrument (UCLA GIT 2.0), the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36v2), and the EuroQoL EQ-5D-5L.Results One hundred and two SSc patients agreed to participate, 31 of which answered to the retest. HAQ-DI demonstrated high internal consistency reliability (α=0.866) and the same measure and all five VAS also showed high test-retest reliability (ICC 0.61–0.95). In what concerns construct validity, we evidenced the unidimensionality of all VAS. HAQ-DI evidenced to be worse in males, patients older than 65 years and individuals with a diffuse form of SSc. Criterion validity was mainly evidenced through the correlation between HAQ-DI and SF-36v2 physical summary measure (r=-0.688) and EQ-5D-5L index score (r=-0.723). Likewise, SHAQ overall disease severity VAS was also correlated with SF-36v2 physical summary measure (r=-0.628). Because SHAQ is a functional disability measure, mental scores correlations were smaller. With the exception of Raynaud’s VAS, all the other VAS correlated well with similar clinical variables.Conclusion This paper provides evidence to demonstrate how reliable and valid the European Portuguese version of SHAQ is, to be used in SSc patients to assess the clinical severity under the perspective of patients.
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