Validation of the Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire in a non-US population

Background and objective: Sarcoidosis is a multi-system disease with an unpredictable course and variable clinical manifestations that are often associated with impaired quality of life. The Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire (SHQ), which was developed for an 80% African American population, assesses health-related quality of life in sarcoidosis patients. The aim of this study was to validate the SHQ in a predominantly European population of sarcoidosis patients. Methods: Consecutive outpatients (n = 92) with sarcoidosis, who were attending a teaching hospital clinic, completed three questionnaires (SHQ, Short Form(SF) 36, Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS)) and pulmonary function tests were performed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 51 years, 52% were males and 74% were of European ethnicity. The mean number of organs involved was 1.3, with pulmonary involvement in 95% of patients (mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s 74.4%, forced vital capacity 84.6%). Seventy percent of patients had current symptoms and 26.5% were receiving immunosuppressant therapy. The SHQ total score (mean 5.13) was significantly correlated with the SF 36 physical component score (46.7, r = 0.78) and the FAS (20.8, r = -0.7) but only weakly correlated with pulmonary function. There were significant differences in SHQ scores when patients were stratified according to symptoms, oral therapy, health status (P < 0.0001 for all), forced expiratory volume in 1 s >= 70% (P = 0.008) and forced vital capacity >= 70% (P = 0.01). Conclusions: The SHQ correlated well with health-related quality of life and fatigue measures in a predominantly European population of sarcoidosis patients, despite differences in organ involvement and disease burden, when compared with the development study.