European Scleroderma Study Group to define disease activity criteria for systemic sclerosis. III. Assessment of the construct validity of the preliminary activity criteria

Valentini, G; Bencivelli, W; Bombardieri, S; D'Angelo, S; Della Rossa, A; Silman, AJ; Black, CM; Czirjak, L; Nielsen, H; Vlachoyiannopoulos, PG

dc.contributor.author	Valentini, G	en
dc.contributor.author	Bencivelli, W	en
dc.contributor.author	Bombardieri, S	en
dc.contributor.author	D'Angelo, S	en
dc.contributor.author	Della Rossa, A	en
dc.contributor.author	Silman, AJ	en
dc.contributor.author	Black, CM	en
dc.contributor.author	Czirjak, L	en
dc.contributor.author	Nielsen, H	en
dc.contributor.author	Vlachoyiannopoulos, PG	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:53:06Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:53:06Z
dc.date.issued	2003	en
dc.identifier.issn	0003-4967	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/26856
dc.subject.classification	Rheumatology	en
dc.subject.other	CONSENSUS-STUDY-GROUP	en
dc.subject.other	LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS	en
dc.subject.other	RHEUMATOLOGY RESEARCH	en
dc.subject.other	ACTIVITY INDEXES	en
dc.subject.other	IDENTIFICATION	en
dc.subject.other	MULTICENTER	en
dc.subject.other	VARIABLES	en
dc.subject.other	ARTHRITIS	en
dc.subject.other	WORKSHOP	en
dc.title	European Scleroderma Study Group to define disease activity criteria for systemic sclerosis. III. Assessment of the construct validity of the preliminary activity criteria	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2003	en
heal.abstract	Objective: To further assess the construct validity of the three European Scleroderma Study Group (EScSG) preliminary activity indices for systemic sclerosis (SSc): for SSc as a whole, for diffuse SSc (dcSSc), and for limited SSc (lcSSc). Methods: 30/290 SSc clinical charts collected for the EScSG study used to develop activity criteria for SSc were selected and sent to four clinical experts in SSc. The experts ranked the charts from 1 to 30 (1=lowest activity, 30=highest activity). The relationships among the ranks given by each investigator and each of the three scores, and between any two of the ranks were investigated. Results: A consistently significant correlation (r(s)=0.530-0.712) was found between the ranks given by each of the four investigators and the index for the entire patient group. A similar level of agreement was detected between each couple of the four experts (r(s)=0.428-0.720). Moreover, the ranks given in patients with an index>3 were significantly higher than those given for patients with an indexless than or equal to3. This cut off point had previously been shown to best discriminate patients with active disease. Conclusions: Of the originally developed activity indexes, the whole series index has been externally validated. The index comprises the first preliminary, but necessary, groundwork to improve the concept of disease activity in SSc, which is still ill defined. It can be used as a preliminary activity index in clinical investigational studies.	en
heal.publisher	BRITISH MED JOURNAL PUBL GROUP	en
heal.journalName	ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000184792800023	en
dc.identifier.volume	62	en
dc.identifier.issue	9	en
dc.identifier.spage	901	en
dc.identifier.epage	903	en