The impact of lupus erythematosus cutaneous on the Quality of life: the Brazilian-Portuguese version of DLQI.
OBJECTIVE
To translate into Brazilian-Portuguese, culturally adapt and validate the DLQI.


METHODS
The DLQI was translated into Brazilian-Portuguese and cultural adaptation was performed following the methodology proposed by Falcão. Inter-observer reliability and validity were assessed. Seventy-one patients with lupus erythematosus with cutaneous lesions selected from the outpatient dermatology clinic had their quality of life assessed by DLQI and SF-36. The validity of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the DLQI was evaluated by the correlation of DLQI scores with SF-36 component scores and other outcome measures.


RESULTS
In the translation and cultural adaptation process the basic structure of DLQI was kept. Very few questions have very slightly modifications. Of the 71 patients, 83% were women and the median (SD) age was 38 (12) years. The patients had a mean (SD) disease duration of 8(6) years. There were 46 patients with active cutaneous lesions and 37 patients with alopecia. The DLQI inter-observer reliability coefficient was 0.96 (p<0.001). The DLQI mean (SD) score was 6.5 (5.6) and most of the SF-36 domains were between 60 and 70. The domains that had the lowest scores were 'general health' (62) and 'mental health' (62). The Pearson correlation coefficient between DLQI and each SF-36 component score were highly statistically significant (p<0.001), despite of being only moderate. As expected there was no correlation between DLQI or each one of the SF-36 components and age, disease duration or number of ACR criteria. Patients with active cutaneous lesions presented statistically significant lower scores of DLQI and SF-36 when compared to patients without active cutaneous lesions. Patients with alopecia presented a statistically significant lower score in DLQI when compared to patients without alopecia.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the DLQI is a reliable and valid outcome measure to be used in LE clinical studies.
Department of Dermatology, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 685, 040123-062, Sao Paulo, Brazil. lucibiaggif@hotmail.com
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D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008178:Lupus Erythematosus, Cutaneous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires