PEE4: THE FRENCH VERSION OF THE PSORIASIS DISABILITY INDEX

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our work was to translate the PDI into French, with careful attention to the linguistic aspects and the cultural context of the French patients. CONTEXT: The PDI is a scale devised by Prof. A. Finlay of Cardiff to evaluate the impact of psoriasis on the life of the patient. This questionnaire has been used in numerous studies to evaluate the consequences of the disease in daily life or the effects of different treatments. RESULTS: With the author's approval, the questionnaire was translated from English to French by two independent translators. The two versions were compared and a few non significant differences were noted. A third translation from English to French was realized with the assistance of the APLCP, psoriasis patient support group. When compared to the first two, this third translation brought out the specificity of the French cultural context and the reality of the disease. To make sure that the translation was consistent with our objective, the questionnaire was sent to five patients and translated from French to English by two independent translators. For a large-scale validation, this questionnaire was sent by post to 5000 psoriasis patients belonging to the APLCP. With the addition of a questionnaire on the patient's behavior in respect to the treatment, “Living With Psoriasis” will make it possible to evaluate every two years the impact and the daily consequences of psoriasis on French patients and thus become a decision support tool. CONCLUSION: The novelty of this initiative resides in the involvement of a patient support group at every step on a level rarely attained, not only in the translation but also in the validation of the questionnaire. This close involvement reflects the key role of a patient support group in the management of the disease.