title: Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K), a modification of SLEDAI to reflect persistent, active disease in those descriptors that had previously only considered new or recurrent occurrences, and to validate SLEDAI-2K against the original SLEDAI as a predictor for mortality and as a measure of global disease activity in the clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  All visits in our cohort of 960 patients were used to correlate SLEDAI-2K against the original SLEDAI, and the whole cohort was used to validate SLEDAI-2K as a predictor of mortality. A subgroup of 212 patients with SLE followed at the Lupus Clinic who had 5 regular visits, 3-6 months apart, in 1991-93 was also included. An uninvolved clinician evaluated each patient record and assigned a clinical activity level. The SLEDAI score was calculated from the database according to both the original and modified definitions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SLEDAI-2K correlated highly (r = 0.97) with SLEDAI. Both methods for SLEDAI scoring predicted mortality equally (p = 0.0001), and described similarly the range of disease activity as recognized by the clinician.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SLEDAI-2K, which allows for persistent activity in rash, mucous membranes, alopecia, and proteinuria, is suitable for use in clinical trials and studies of prognosis in SLE.
authors.affiliation: The University of Toronto Lupus Clinic, Centre for Prognosis Studies in the Rheumatic Diseases, Toronto Western Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Dafna D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Gladman
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ibañez
authors.forename: Murray B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Urowitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate