| Name of the Instrument/Tool | Systemic Lupus Activity Questionnaire (SLAQ) |
| First Description |
Karlson EW, Daltroy LH, Rivest C, Ramsey-Goldman R, Wright EA, Partridge AJ, et al. Validation of a Systemic Lupus Activity Questionnaire (SLAQ) for population studies. Lupus 2003;12:280-6 |
| Year | 2003 |
| Domains | |
| Concept of constructs | Disease activity |
| Population/Disease | Disease specific |
| Originally developed for | Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) |
| Other rheumatic diseases where can be applied (only if validated) |
--- |
| Additional population with no rheumatic diseases |
No |
| Language: Originally published in | English |
| Available in Language | Italian, Japanese, English, German |
| REFERENCE IDENTIFICATION | |
| Author/s | Karlson EW, Daltroy LH, Rivest C, Ramsey-Goldman R, Wright EA, Partridge AJ, et al |
| Title | Validation of a Systemic Lupus Activity Questionnaire (SLAQ) for population studies. |
| Journal | Lupus |
| Year | 2003 |
| Vol | 12 |
| Num | 4 |
| Pages | 280-286 |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| Other references of interest | |
| Link | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3759159/ |
| Brief Description |
This paper explores the reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness of the SLAQ in a large observational cohort of patients with SLE. |
| Link | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3759159/ |
| Brief Description |
Validation of the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Activity Questionnaire in a large observational cohort. |
| Link | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3812450/ |
| Brief Description |
Measures of LES-a review. |
| Instrument/Tool Translations References | |
| Link | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Validation+and+eval … |
| Brief Description |
The aim of this paper was to validate the SLAQ in German and evaluate its use in a large cohort of patients with SLE. The German version of the SLAQ shows a comparable validity as the original SLAQ. The scoring system is the same as the original version. |
| DEVELOPER CONTACT INFORMATION | |
| Correspondence to | Elizabeth W Karlson |
| ekarlson@partners.org | |
| Address | Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 75 Francis St. Boston, MA 02115, USA |
| Website | --- |
| Available | --- |
| Links | --- |
| DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT | |
| Type Of Measure | Questionnaire |
| Brief Description |
SLAQ is a questionnaire based on items from the Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM) that were amenable to self-report as a more economical way of following and tracking large groups of SLE patients in epidemiological studies. SLAQ includes three aspects: It asks about presence or severity of lupus flare (no, mild, moderate or severe); questions on 24 specific symptoms of disease activity including: weight loss, fatigue, fevers, oral ulcers, malar rash, photosensitivity, vasculitis, other rashes, alopecia, lymphadenopathy, dyspnea, chest pain, Raynaud’s phenomenon, abdominal pain, paresthesia, seizures, stroke, memory loss, depression, headaches, myalgias, muscle weakness, arthralgias and joint swelling, and a single Patient Global Assessment question about severity of lupus activity over the past month (0= no activity to 10=most activity) |
| Number of Items | 3 (lupus flare, list of 24 symptoms and disease activity) |
| Range | 0-44 |
| Responses options/scale |
Yes Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) asking the patient to rate disease activity on a scale of 0 to 10 with the 0 anchored by ‘no activity’ and 10 anchored by ‘most activity’. |
| Developed for | Both |
| PRACTICAL APPLICATION | |
| Method of administration | Self-administered, Online/Mail based, Interviewer/assessor |
| Recommendations to score |
Items are weighted and aggregated in a manner analogous to the scoring system used in the SLAM, and scores can range from 0 to 44 for the disease-specific questions. Hence, there are 4 methods of scoring the SLAQ: 1) SLAQ score, based on the 24 symptom questions weighted in a manner analogous to the scoring of items covered on the SLAM (possible range 0 – 44) 2) Symptom Score, based on a count of positive responses within the 24 questions (possible range 0 – 24) 3) patient global assessment (PGA), based on the single question regarding presence and severity of lupus flare (possible range 0 – 3) 4) patient NRS, based on the single item numerical rating scale for global disease activity (possible range 0-10) |
| Score Interpretation | Higher score higher disease activity |
| Cut-off points | ≥9 (Sensitivity=83%, Specificity=70% to predict a score of three points on the SLAM-no lab) |
| Cut-off points applied to | Research |
| Smallest detectable change if described | No described |
| Smallest detectable change applied to | Not specified |
| Completion time by the patient | <10 minutes |
| Scoring time by the assessor | <10 minutes |
| Training to score | Not necessary |
| Strengths | Useful in clinical practice & research |
| Limitations | --- |
| OTHER COMMENTS | |
| Other Comments |
The SLAQ is useful to identify patients with new or increased disease activity who need further evaluation by a physician, with a positive predictive value ranging from 56% to 89% for detecting clinically significant disease activity |