title: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of Behçet's disease quality of life questionnaire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Currently, there is one Behçet's disease (BD) specific self reporting questionnaire developed and published in the literature, The Leeds BD-quality of life (QoL). We conducted a cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of the Leeds BD-QoL METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 41 consecutive patients attending rheumatology clinics at the American University of Beirut Medical Center between June and December 2007. The BD-QoL questionnaire, the Katz Index of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) questionnaires were co-administered during the same visit, and severity scores were calculated. Cross-cultural adaptation of BD-QoL was performed using forward and backward translations of the original questionnaire. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the final version were determined. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to assess the dimensionality of the scale items. External construct validity was examined by correlating Arabic BD-QoL with the severity score, ADL and IADL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 30 items of the adapted Arabic BD-QoL showed a high internal consistency (KR-20 coefficient 0.89) and test-retest reliability (Spearman's test 0.91). The convergence of all 30 items suggests that the 30-item adapted Arabic BD-QoL scale is unidimensional. BD-QoL did not correlate with any of the patients' demographics. Still, it was positively correlated with patient severity score (r 0.4, p 0.02), and IADL (but not ADL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This cross-cultural adaptation has produced an Arabic BD-QoL questionnaire that is now available for use in clinical settings and in research studies, among Arabic speaking patients.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Prognosis Studies in the Rheumatic Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Zahi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Touma
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ghandour
authors.forename: Abla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sibai
authors.forename: Houry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Puzantian
authors.forename: Ayad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamdan
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hamdan
authors.forename: Jeanine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Menassa
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uthman
authors.forename: Thurayya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arayssi
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires