Background/Purpose: The measurement of patient reported outcomes (PROs) is a growing priority for performance improvement in clinical care of chronic conditions such as SLE. Measuring PROs at the point of care requires validated instruments with minimal responder burden. PROMIS¨ Global Health Short Form (GHSF) is a 10 question generic PRO instrument measuring global physical and mental health domains with T-scores normalized to the general population (mean score = 50). The validity and reliability of the PROMIS GHSF have not been demonstrated in SLE. The aims of this study were to evaluate: 1) validity and 2) test-retest reliability of PROMIS GHSF in adults with SLE.

Methods: Adult outpatients meeting 1997 ACR SLE classification criteria were recruited from a SLE Center of Excellence. Subjects completed the SF-36, LupusQoL-US, selected PROMIS CATs, and PROMIS GHSF. PROMIS GHSF global physical and mental health scores were compared with PROMIS CATs and legacy instruments using Spearman correlations. Test-retest reliability was evaluated among subjects reporting stable SLE activity at two assessments a week apart using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC).

Results: PROMIS GHSF demonstrated face validity with SLE patients scoring worse than the general population in global physical health (mean T-score 41.6 +/- SD 8.8; range 19.9 – 67.7) and global mental health (mean T-score 43.7 +/- SD 8.7; range 25.1 – 67.6). PROMIS GHSF physical health scores correlated strongly with physical function, pain, and social health domains in the PROMIS CATs, SF-36, and LupusQoL, while PROMIS GHSF mental health scores correlated strongly with the PROMIS depression CAT and the LupusQoL emotional health domain (table 1). Correlation between PROMIS GHSF physical health and the SF-36 physical component scores (PCS) was weak, while correlation between PROMIS GHSF mental health and the SF-36 mental component scores (MCS) was moderate (table 1). Test-retest reliability for both PROMIS GHSF physical and mental health scores was high with ICCs of 0.89 and 0.85 respectively. Median time to complete the short form was less than 2 minutes.

Conclusion: This study is the first to demonstrate the validity and reliability of PROMIS GHSF in adults with SLE. PROMIS GHSF can be used to quickly, accurately, and reliably screen for impaired physical function, pain, and depression and could be an important tool in the measurement of patient centered outcomes and improvement of quality of care in SLE.