TITLE:
Evaluation of a new Tunisian version of behçet’s disease current activity form*
AUTHORS:
Olfa Harzallah, Yassine Meksi, Amira Hamzaoui, Rym Klii, Amira Atig, Silvia Mahjoub
KEYWORDS:
Behçet’s Disease; Disease Activity; Disease Activity Score; Reliability of Results
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Internal Medicine,
Vol.3 No.4,
December
24,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Background: Behçet’s Syndrome
(BS) is characterized by a heterogeneous vessel involvement, a fluctuating
natural history and by the absence of biological markers correlated to disease
activity that’s why objective clinical scores are needed for the assessment
of its activity. The Behçet’s Disease
Clinical Activity Form (BDCAF) is the most recent and widely used
clinical activity score. Objectives: To perform a cross-cultural adaptation
of the Behçet’s Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF) to the Tunisian Dialect
(Arabic Language) and to evaluate the metrological characteristics of the
Tunisian version (Tu-BDCAF) especially its
reliability in BD activity evaluation. Methods: Cross-cultural
adaptation was done according to the established guidelines. Reliability of
Tu-BDCAF was tested among 40 BD patients (mean age: 38 years, sex ratio: 1.37).
Patients were questioned by two BD specialists at 20 minutes interval to
evaluate inter-observer reproducibility and twice by the same physician at
48 hours interval to assess the intra-observer reproducibility. k Coefficient was used to test the concordance between qualitative variables
and correlation between quantitative variables was evaluated used Pearson
coefficient and Bland and Altman graphical method. Results: There was a good
correlation between global scores
calculated by the two physicians on the same day (r = 0.94, p k Coefficient analyses demonstrated a good intra and inter observer reliability
for all the Tu-BDCAF items excepted for diarrhea and Clinician’s impression. As
the original version, Tu-BDCAF is an objective, easy-calculated and reliable
index for assessing disease activity in BD. The main limit of the BDCAF score remains the absence of
a cut-off point defining BD activity. Conclusion: Tu-BDACF is a Tunisian version
of the BDCAF score which can be used in routine to assess BD activity but also
in international studies and clinical trials.