Article Text
Abstract
Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can have a major impact on health related quality of life (HRQoL). The revised AIMS-2 is the main outcome measure that has been used for measuring HRQoL in patients with rheumatic diseases. Guillemin et al. developed a short form of AIMS-2 (AIMS-2 SF) (1) which is more practical and less time consuming compared to AIMS-2.
Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate validity and reliability of the Turkish version of AIMS2-SF (TR AIMS-2 SF).
Methods Turkish AIMS2-SF was developed after translation and back-translation method. Culturally adapted version preserved 5 component-structure (upper limb function, lower limb function, affect, pain and social interaction) with 26 items according to the original article (1). Subjects fulfilling ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria for RA were consecutively enrolled into the study. Patients with malignancy, fibromyalgia syndrome and other systemic inflammatory diseases were excluded. Demographic data, the body mass index (BMI), severity of pain (VAS), disease duration (month) and other clinical features was evaluated. Reliability was investigated with test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient-ICC) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relation between quantitative parameters and the validity. Construct validity was assessed by the correlation of TR AIMS2-SF with other clinical parameters (age, disease duration, VAS pain, DAS-28) and functional parameters such as Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Duruoz Hand Index (DHI). Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS version 20 and a value of p<0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results Sixty patients (6 males) were recruited into the study. The mean ± standart deviation (SD) of age (years) and disease duration (months) were 51.8±12.5 and 71.4±69.3, respectively. Mean scores of TR AIMS2-SF were; upper limb function 7.3±6.9, lower limb function 7.7±4.7, affect 7.4±3.2, pain 6±3.1, social interaction 4±2.3 and total score 35.5±16.6. The floor and ceiling effects of TR AIMS2-SF were 1.6 and 3.3, respectively. Both Cronbach's alpha and ICC were 0.83 indicating good reliability. There was significant correlation (rho, p value) with parameters that were directly related to HRQoL which were NHP subscales (energy level: 0.46, pain: 0.63, emotional reaction: 0.55, sleep 0.33, social interaction: 0.60, physical activity: 0.63; p<0.0001), HAQ (0.70, p<0.0001), BDI (0.54, p<0.0001), DHI (0.60, p<0.0001). Poor or not significant correlation was found with parameters that were not directly related to HRQoL such as age (-0.004, p=0.97), disease duration (0.21, p=0.09), vas pain (0.37, p<0.05); on the other hand, disease activity (DAS-28) correlated moderate (0.49, p<0.0001).
Conclusions Turkish version of AIMS2-SF is a reliable and valid tool that can be used to evaluate the quality of life in RA. This is a feasible measure that can be used in daily practice easily.
References
Guillemin F, Coste J, Pouchot J et al. The AIMS2-SF: a short form of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales.
French Quality of Life in Rheumatology Group. Arthritis Rheum 1997, 40:1267–74.
References
Disclosure of Interest None declared