Transcultural adaptation of the EULAR activity index for primary Sjogren's syndrome in Argentine.

OBJECTIVE: To adapt the EULAR Activity Index for primary Sjögren's syndrome (ESSDAI) to the Argentine population. METHODS: observational, cross-sectional study that included patients in a period of ten months. Three Argentine rheumatologists adapted and translated to Spanish the original version in English and the final version was translated back into English by a research associate whose mother language was English. In order to estimate the constructive validity of the index, the visual analogous scale (VAS) of disease activity was used by experts. A subgroup of patients attended a second visit in order to evaluate test-retest reliability. RESULTS: 51 patients were included, 49 (96.1%) were female, the median age was 58 ((interquartile range (IQR): 49-69)). The median global VAS was 10 (IQR: 4-22.25) and the median total ESSDAI score was 5 (IQR: 3-9). The correlation between the global VAS and the total ESSDAI score of the scale was 0.79. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.67 (95% CI: 0.32-0.92) for the total score and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.92-0.995) for the global VAS. The results of the correlation coefficient between the VAS and the scale for each domain were: constitutional symptoms: 0.46; lymphadenopathy: 0.76; glandular: 0.78; joint: 0.61; skin: 1; respiratory: 0.83; renal: 1; muscular:- (no patient had myositis); peripheral nervous system: 0.72; central nervous system: 0.67; hematological: 0.96; biomarkers: 0.86. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the ESSDAI is a reliable and valid index for this pSS argentinian population.

Frequency of human leukocyte antigens class II-DR alleles (HLA-DRB1) in Argentinian patients with early arthritis.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or undifferentiated arthritis (UA) in the CONAART database (Argentine Consortium for Early Arthritis) were assessed for genetic risk factors for RA, specifically for HLA-DRB1 alleles and the PTPN22 rs2476601 polymorphism associated with progression to RA. This is a case-control study. Blood samples were obtained to determine HLA-DRB1 genotypes by PCR-SSO Luminex and PTPN22 (rs2476601) polymorphism by allelic discrimination. A control group of individuals from the general Argentinian population were obtained from the national register of cadaveric organ donors. A total of 1859 individuals were included in this analysis: 399 patients from the CONAART database (347 patients with RA at study end and 52 patients with UA at study end, mean follow-up time 25 ± 18 months) and 1460 individuals from the general Argentinian population. Compared with the controls, the HLA-DRB1*04 and DRB1*09 alleles were more commonly detected in patients with RA diagnosis (OR (95% CI) 2.23 (1.74-2.85) and 1.89 (1.26-2.81)) respectively. Both patients with UA and the general population showed higher frequency of DRB1*07, DRB1*11 and DRB1*15 alleles than patients with RA. PTPN22 rs2476601 polymorphism frequency was higher in RA and UA vs the general population; however, this was significantly different only for RA vs control group (OR [95% CI] = 1.81 [1.10-3.02], P = 0.018. HLA-DRB1 typing and PTPN22 allelic discrimination could distinguish between patients with UA, patients with early RA, and the general population in Argentina. This is the first study of HLA-DRB1 alleles and PTPN22 polymorphism associations with progression to early RA in an Argentinian population.

Validación del índice Duruõz en una población argentina con esclerodermia / Reliability and validity of the Duruoz Hand Index in an argentinian population with scleroderma

Objetivo: el objetivo de nuestro estudio fue adaptar y validar el Indice Duruõz (ID) en una población argentina con esclerodermia. Métodos: Para la validación, reumatólogos tradujeron al español la versión original en francés. Para evaluar la validez constructiva se utilizó la escala global visual análoga del paciente (EVA), EVA para cada una de las preguntas de la misma actividad, el cuestionario de evaluación de salud (HAQ) y el Score modificado de Rodnan para evaluar la piel. Resultados: Se incluyeron 45 pacientes con diagnóstico de esclerodermia. La correlación entre la puntuación total de ID y el EVA global del paciente fue de 0,58, con el HAQ fue 0,63 y con el Rodnan fue 0,08. El coeficiente de correlación entre el EVA y cada grupo de preguntas para la misma actividad en el ID, indicó buena correlación para las preguntas que se refieren a las actividades de cocina, así como para vestirse, de higiene, y para las preguntas de oficina. Se encontró excelente nivel de correlación con los ítems relacionados con las actividades de motricidad fina. La reproducibilidad fue de 0,88 y la confiabilidad de 0,98. Conclusión: Los resultados mostraron que el ID es un cuestionario confiable y válido para esta población argentina con esclerodermia.

Objective: the aim of our study was to adapt and to validate theDHI questionnaire in an argentinian population with scleroderma. Methods:  For validation, rheumatologists translated to Spanish the original version in French. To evaluate the construct validity, we used thepatient global visual analogue scale (VAS), VAS for questions for the sameactivity, the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) and the Rodnan. Results: a total of 45 patients with scleroderma were includedin the study. The correlation between the total score of DHI and thepatient global VAS was 0.58, with the HAQ was 0.63 and with Rodnan0.08. The correlation coefficient between the VAS and each group of questions for the same activity in the DHI questionnaire, indicatedgood correlation for the questions that refer to activities of kitchen, aswell as for dressing, for hygiene, and for the office questions. Therewas excellent level of correlation with those related to  fine motoractivities. The reproducibility was 0.88 and the reliability was 0.98. Conclusion: The results from this study show the DHI to be a reliableand valid test for this argentinian population with scleroderma.