Validation and reliability of CLEQoL. (1st June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ogunsanya, M.E.; Cho, S.K.; Hudson, A.; Chong, B.F.
• Is Part Of: British journal of dermatology. Volume 180:Number 6(2019)
• Page Start: e238
• Page End: e238
• Publication Date: 2019-06-01
• Subjects: Dermatology -- Periodicals; Skin -- Diseases -- Periodicals; 616.5
• DOI: 10.1111/bjd.17950
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-0963

Abstract

Summary: The term 'lupus erythematosus' refers to a range of related disorders, and types of lupus affecting the skin are collectively known as cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE). CLE can cause several different types of rashes. Many of these are often seen in areas of the body that are exposed to the sun. CLE patients can suffer from fatigue, pain, scarring, hair loss, and even sensitivity to the sun, all of which have been shown to negatively affect quality of life (QoL). Because of how subjective most of these symptoms are, it is important to use appropriate measures that can adequately examine the QoL in patients. Therefore, this study, from the U.S.A., aimed to demonstrate the 'reliability' and 'validity' of the cutaneous lupus erythematosus quality of life (CLEQoL) measure, which is a tool that allows patients to describe how CLE affects their QoL. Reliability means that if you take the same test multiple times, you should get roughly the same results every time, while validity broadly means that the test measures what it's supposed to. The CLEQoL was found to have sufficient reliability and validity in assessing the QoL in patients with CLE. Our findings show that CLEQoL is a practical and useful tool in examining QoL in CLE patients and could be considered for use in future drug development and clinical trials, as well as in clinical practice for routine monitoring of patients' well‐being.