TY - JOUR T1 - Construct and Criterion Validity of the Short Form-6D Utility Measure in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.110648 SP - jrheum.110648 AU - Mark J. Harrison AU - Yasmeen Ahmad AU - Sahena Haque AU - Nicola Dale AU - Lee-Suan Teh AU - Neil Snowden AU - Pauline Ho AU - Rachel Gorodkin AU - Ian N. Bruce Y1 - 2012/02/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2012/01/26/jrheum.110648.abstract N2 - Objective Preference-based measures, such as the Short Form-6D (SF-6D), allow quality-adjusted life-years, used in cost-utility evaluations, to be calculated. We investigated the construct and criterion validity of the SF-6D in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Female patients with SLE were recruited from outpatient clinics at 2 timepoints, 5 years apart. Cross-sectional correlation of the SF-6D with domains of the disease-specific LupusQol health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure, the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Damage Index (SDI; for damage) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI; for activity) measures, and patient characteristics was tested. The ability to discriminate between groups defined by smoking status, presence/absence of carotid plaque, depression, and fatigue was tested using the t-test. Results In total 181 patients were recruited at baseline. The SF-6D correlated moderately to strongly with all domains of the LupusQoL (0.6–0.8) apart from intimate relationships (0.42) and body image (0.34). Correlations of the SF-6D with the demographic and disease-specific measures at baseline were small for the SDI score (–0.23) and age (–0.19) and in the expected direction. The SF-6D did not correlate with disease activity (SLEDAI –0.08). The SF-6D could distinguish those who smoked, had carotid plaque, had depression, and reported fatigue from those who did not, with the largest effect size being for depression (0.75). Conclusion The SF-6D displays construct and criterion validity for use in patients with SLE, but the low correlation with aspects of intimate relationships and body image represents a concern and reinforces the need to collect disease-specific measures of HRQOL alongside generic preference-based instruments. ER -