RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Multicriteria decision analysis process to develop new classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO Ann Rheum Dis FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism SP 634 OP 640 DO 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-214685 VO 78 IS 5 A1 Sara K Tedeschi A1 Sindhu R Johnson A1 Dimitrios T Boumpas A1 David Daikh A1 Thomas Dörner A1 Betty Diamond A1 Søren Jacobsen A1 David Jayne A1 Diane L Kamen A1 W Joseph McCune A1 Marta Mosca A1 Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman A1 Guillermo Ruiz-Irastorza A1 Matthias Schneider A1 Murray Urowitz A1 David Wofsy A1 Josef S Smolen A1 Raymond P Naden A1 Martin Aringer A1 Karen H Costenbader YR 2019 UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/78/5/634.abstract AB European League Against Rheumatism and are jointly supporting multiphase development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) classification criteria based on weighted criteria and a continuous probability scale. Prior steps included item generation, item reduction and hierarchical organisation of candidate criteria using an evidence-based approach. Our objectives were to determine relative weights using multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and to set a provisional threshold score for SLE classification. An SLE Expert Panel (8 European, 9 North American) submitted 164 real, unique cases with a wide range of SLE probability in a standardised format. Using the candidate criteria, experts scored and rank-ordered 20 representative cases. At an in-person meeting, experts reviewed inter-rater reliability of scoring, further refined criteria definitions and participated in an MCDA exercise. Based on expert consensus decisions on pairwise comparisons of criteria, 1000minds software calculated criteria weights and rank-ordered the remaining 144 cases based on their additive scores. The score of the lowest-ranked case for which complete expert consensus was achieved defined the provisional threshold classification score. Inter-rater reliability of scoring cases with the candidate criteria was good. MCDA involved 74 pairwise decisions and was repeated for the arthritis and mucocutaneous domains when the initial ranking of some cases did not match expert opinion. After criteria weights and additive scores were recalculated once, experts reached consensus for SLE classification for all cases scoring>83. Using an iterative process, the candidate criteria definitions were refined, preliminary weights were calculated and a provisional threshold score for SLE classification was determined.