Document resource
Introduction The EULAR Systemic Sclerosis Impact of Disease (ScleroID) questionnaire is a crucial patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for assessing the burden of systemic sclerosis (SSc). While its psychometric properties are validated in European populations, a linguistically and culturally adapted Arabic version for Egypt is currently unavailable. This study aimed to translate and validate the ScleroID questionnaire for use in the Egyptian population, fulfilling a critical need for patient-centric assessment tools.Material and Methods This study followed a two-phase protocol. The first phase involved the rigorous translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the ScleroID questionnaire into Egyptian Arabic, following international guidelines. This included forward and back-translation, synthesis by an expert committee, and cognitive debriefing with 15 SSc patients to ensure clarity and cultural equivalence. The second phase, currently underway, involves a cross-sectional psychometric validation study on a convenience sample of 50-100 adult SSc patients. We are assessing the translated version’s feasibility, internal consistency (using Cronbach’s alpha), and test-retest reliability (using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, ICC). We will also evaluate its construct validity by correlating its scores with established PROMs like the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ).Results At the time of this abstract submission, the translation and cognitive debriefing phases have been successfully completed. The expert committee and patient feedback confirmed the linguistic and conceptual equivalence of the translated questionnaire. The final version has been approved for psychometric validation. Results from the validation phase will be presented at the conference.Conclusions The EULAR ScleroID questionnaire has been successfully translated and cross-culturally adapted into a valid Arabic version for the Egyptian population. We anticipate that our psychometric validation will confirm its reliability and validity, providing rheumatologists and researchers with a new, valuable tool to comprehensively assess the impact of SSc from the patient’s perspective.