OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Arabic version of the Early Inflammatory Arthritis Questionnaire (EIAQ-A), a detection tool for screening for early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) in Arabic-speaking populations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 30 consecutive participants (21 female and 9 male) attending the Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital. They completed the self-administered EIAQ-A twice within a 2-week period. Their disease activity was evaluated during the visits based on clinical and laboratory variables. Cross-cultural adaptation was performed using forward and backward translations of the original questionnaire. Test-retest reliability of the EIAQ-A was evaluated using the measure of agreement, kappa (kappa), between the response of participants in the two interviews. Internal consistency of the EIAQ-A was measured using the Kudar-Richardson-20 coefficient (KR-20), a binary response equivalent to Cronbach's alpha. External construct validity was assessed by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs) between the score of EIAQ-A and both clinical and laboratory variables of disease activity. RESULTS: The test-retest reliability for EIAQ-A was good (kappa = 0.558) for the overall score and between 0.841 and 0.368 for the subscale scores. Internal consistency had an acceptable value of KR-20 = 0.869. The construct validity for EIAQ-A was high for all disease activity variables tested, rs was between 0.727 (swollen joint count) and 0.896 (visual analog scale pain score). CONCLUSION: The EIAQ-A was a reliable and valid tool for population screening for EIA. Its use may accelerate the early detection of EIA in Arabic-speaking communities.

Al-Jarallah K, Shehab D, Moussa MA, Abraham M. Validation of the Arabic version of the early inflammatory arthritis detection tool. Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre. 2013;22(5):449-52.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23899867