title: Development and validation of French version of the UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract Instrument.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract Instrument (UCLA-SCTCGIT) 2.0 was developed to assess systemic sclerosis (SSc) associated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) symptoms severity and its impact on patients' well-being. Our objective was to translate the UCLA-GIT 2.0 from English to French and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the French version.
  
  
  METHODS
  UCLA-GIT 2.0 was adapted into French using a formal forward-backward translation method and administered to 76 French speaking patients with SSc. The patients also completed the SF-36. We evaluated the internal consistency reliability and construct validity by exploring associations between the UCLA SCTC GIT 2.0 and SF-36 scales. Patients were also classified into two groups based on unintended weight loss within the past 6 months (≥5% vs. <5% of total body weight).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants were mostly white (90%), female (81%) and had limited SSc (50%). Mean score of the UCLA-GIT 2.0 scales were: 0.35 for faecal soilage, 0.44 for diarrhoea, 0.45 for emotional well-being, 0.48 for both constipation and social functioning, 0.52 for reflux, and 0.95 for distension/bloating. The instrument had acceptable reliability (defined as Cronbach alpha≥0.69) except for the diarrhoea scale (alpha=0.56). The majority of hypothesized correlations were of moderate magnitude (coefficient≥0.30) and were in the appropriate direction. Patients with ≥5% unintended weight loss had worse UCLA-GIT scores in all scales (p<0.05 for distention/bloating scale).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The French version of the UCLA-GIT 2.0 has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used in French speaking SSc patients.
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA. sunrise0629@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sangmee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Allanore
authors.forename: Baptiste
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coustet
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maranian
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khanna
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D014177:Translations