Filocamo G et al. (2007) Development and validation of a new short and simple measure of physical function for juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 57: 913–920

The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (C-HAQ), a 52-question measure of physical function in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is widely used in clinical trials but has not been routinely adopted in clinical practice, possibly because of its length and complexity. To address this issue, researchers in Italy have devised and validated a simplified, 15-question instrument—the Juvenile Arthritis Functionality Scale (JAFS)—that measures physical function in patients with JIA.

The JAFS questionnaire comprises three groups of five questions, dealing with the lower limbs, hand and wrist, and upper segment. Validation was performed with a group of 211 consecutive patients aged 2.2–18 years who presented with JIA. A parent of each patient completed both the JAFS and the C-HAQ in random order. Correlations with other JIA outcome measures (e.g. physician's and parent's global assessments, swollen and painful joint counts) were higher for the JAFS than for the C-HAQ, and the JAFS was comparable to the C-HAQ in responsiveness and ability to discriminate between Steinbrocker disability classes. The JAFS was preferred by 89 parents (65.4%), the C-HAQ by 40 (29.4%), and 7 parents had no preference.

The authors conclude that the JAFS is a reliable instrument to assess physical function in children with JIA that is suitable for use in clinical practice, and might also be useful in trials.