A COMPARISON OF 2 RECENTLY DEVELOPED HEALTH-STATUS INSTRUMENTS FOR PATIENTS WITH ARTHRITIS - DUTCH-AIMS2 AND IRGL

Two multidimensional health status instruments of rheumatic diseases, the Dutch-AIMS2 and the IRGL (Impact of Rheumatic diseases on General health and Lifestyle), were compared in a sample of 284 rheumatoid art hritis patients with regard to their measurement properties and useful ness for research purposes. Both questionnaires showed an excellent re liability (Cronbach's a), and were highly comparable with regard to th eir construct and convergent validity. Second-order factor analysis co nfirmed the physical, psychological and social health dimensions for b oth questionnaires. The comparability between the instruments was esta blished by high intercorrelations between the physical and psychologic al health dimensions. Sufficient convergent validity was indicated by the strong correlations between the physical functioning scales and cl inical and laboratory measures. The main differences between both ques tionnaires relate to their length and emphasis on health aspects. The Dutch-AIMS2 is characterized by a more extensive assessment of the phy sical dimension and the additional measurement of general health aspec ts. The shorter IRGL exclusively assesses the main health dimensions w ith a more comprehensive measurement of the psychological and social d imensions. The instrument that reflects the subject in question most a dequately should be chosen.