title: Validation of a new quality of life scale related to multiple sclerosis and relapses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Multiple sclerosis (MS) has a significant impact on all aspects of patient quality of life (QoL). Furthermore, the fear of relapses and the feelings of patients during relapses must be taken into account in care. The objective of this work was to validate the PERSEPP scale ("PERception de la Sclérose En Plaques et de ses Poussées"), a new QoL evaluation scale for relapsing-remitting forms of MS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relapsing-remitting patients were included in a multicenter study. Various validation criteria of this scale were analyzed: acceptability, construct validity (internal and external validity), and reliability (internal consistency and reproducibility test-retest). Responsiveness will be studied in order to complete the validation process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The responses of 305 MS patients were analyzed. The process of reducing the items led us to retain 66 items of a total of 112 items. The 66-item PERSEPP scale (final version) was well accepted. Five dimensions (33 items) make up the scale: social support (α = 0.81), relationship difficulties (α = 0.71), fatigue (α = 0.74), state of mind and associated sleep disorders (α = 0.78), and time perspective (α = 0.75). Three additional modules (33 items) explore coping (α = 0.60), symptoms (α = 0.89), and treatment (α = 0.92). Test-retest reliability, measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), was acceptable (0.72 < ICC < 0.92).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PERSEPP scale has been validated and could be used in clinical trials and in daily practice. Additional studies will then complete the validation process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Besançon University Hospital, Bvd Fleming, 25030, Besançon Cedex, France, abaroin@univ-fcomte.fr.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baroin
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chopard
authors.forename: Gaye
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Siliman
authors.forename: Clément
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Michoudet
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vivot
authors.forename: Chrystelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Hassna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mokadym
authors.forename: Annick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lavier
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Lucien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rumbach
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rude
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011788:Quality of Life; D012008:Recurrence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*