• Aline Cristina Orlandi, Fernanda Pontes Cardoso, Lucas Macedo Santos, Vaneska da Graça Cruz, Anamaria Jones, Cristiane Kyser, and Jamil Natour.
• Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2014 Jan 1; 132 (3): 163169163-9.

Context And ObjectiveSystemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by abnormalities of vascularization that may cause fibrosis of the skin and other organs and lead to dysfunction. It is therefore essential to have tools capable of evaluating function in individuals with this condition. The aim of this study was to translate the Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire (SHAQ) into Portuguese, adapt it to Brazilian culture and test its validity and reliability.Design And SettingThe validation of SHAQ followed internationally accepted methodology, and was performed in university outpatient clinics.MethodsSHAQ was translated into Portuguese and back-translated. In the cultural adaptation phase, it was applied to 20 outpatients. Items not understood by 20% of the patients were modified and applied to another 20 outpatients. Twenty patients were interviewed on two different occasions to determine the validity and reliability of the questionnaire: two interviewers on the first occasion and one interviewer 14 days later. To determine the external validity, comparisons were made with Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and short form-36 (SF-36).ResultsIn the interobserver evaluation, Pearson's correlation coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient were both 0.967. In the intraobserver evaluation, Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.735 and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.687. Regarding external validity, SHAQ scores were statistically correlated with all measurements, except the general health domain of SF-36 and the work-related score (Q2) of DASH.ConclusionThe Brazilian version of SHAQ proved to be valid and reliable for assessing function in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis.

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