J Rheum Dis.  2016 Feb;23(1):19-22. 10.4078/jrd.2016.23.1.19.

Behcet's Disease Current Activity Form as a Patient's Derived Measure

• Choi HJ
• Seo MR
• Ryu HJ
• Baek HJ

• KMID: 2222796
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4078/jrd.2016.23.1.19

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This study measured the reliability of the Behcet's Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF) questionnaire used as a patient self-report form.
METHODS
A study was conducted among 63 patients with Behcet's disease who attended our rheumatology clinic. First, a physician administered a BDCAF questionnaire. Second, the patient completed a self-administered questionnaire at home within 24 hours of the visit. The test-retest reliability was analyzed using kappa tests. Kappa scores of >0.6 indicated good agreement. The BDCAF score was compared with the patient's/clinician's perception of disease activity and the Korean version of Behcet's Disease Quality of Life (BDQOL).
RESULTS
The study included 17 males and 46 females. The mean age of participants was 47.7 years and the mean disease duration was 5.3 years at the first assessment. Fifty-three patients (84.1%) returned the questionnaires to us by mail. For test-retest reliability, good agreement was achieved with the items including headache, oral/genital ulceration, erythema, arthritis, and diarrhea with altered/frank blood per rectum; moderate agreement with skin pustules, arthralgia, and eye involvement; fair agreement with nausea/vomiting/abdominal pain, nervous system, and major vessel involvement. Significant associations were observed between BDCAF scores with the patient's/clinician's perception of disease activity and BDQOL (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION
The BDCAF appears useful as a patient self-report instrument for assessment of disease status.

Keyword

Behcet's Disease Current Activity Form; Self-report measure; Reliability

MeSH Terms

Arthralgia
Arthritis
Diarrhea
Erythema
Female
Headache
Humans
Male
Nervous System
Postal Service
Quality of Life
Rectum
Rheumatology
Skin
Ulcer

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