title: Validation of the Arabic version of the early inflammatory arthritis detection tool.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Arabic version of the Early Inflammatory Arthritis Questionnaire (EIAQ-A), a detection tool for screening for early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) in Arabic-speaking populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted among 30 consecutive participants (21 female and 9 male) attending the Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital. They completed the self-administered EIAQ-A twice within a 2-week period. Their disease activity was evaluated during the visits based on clinical and laboratory variables. Cross-cultural adaptation was performed using forward and backward translations of the original questionnaire. Test-retest reliability of the EIAQ-A was evaluated using the measure of agreement, kappa (κ), between the response of participants in the two interviews. Internal consistency of the EIAQ-A was measured using the Kudar-Richardson-20 coefficient (KR-20), a binary response equivalent to Cronbach's α. External construct validity was assessed by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs) between the score of EIAQ-A and both clinical and laboratory variables of disease activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test-retest reliability for EIAQ-A was good (κ = 0.558) for the overall score and between 0.841 and 0.368 for the subscale scores. Internal consistency had an acceptable value of KR-20 = 0.869. The construct validity for EIAQ-A was high for all disease activity variables tested, rs was between 0.727 (swollen joint count) and 0.896 (visual analog scale pain score).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EIAQ-A was a reliable and valid tool for population screening for EIA. Its use may accelerate the early detection of EIA in Arabic-speaking communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Jabriya, Kuwait.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al-Jarallah
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shehab
authors.forename: M A A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Moussa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abraham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001168:Arthritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations; D055815:Young Adult
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