Development and psychometric validation of the REFlective evaLuation of psoriasis Efficacy of Treatment and Severity (REFLETS) questionnaire: a common measure of plaque-type psoriasis severity and treatment efficacy for patients and clinicians.

BACKGROUND: To date, there is no global consensus on the definition of the severity of psoriasis. The REFlective evaLuation of psoriasis Efficacy of Treatment and Severity (REFLETS) questionnaire has recently been developed to provide a better understanding of plaque-type psoriasis severity and treatment efficacy from both patient and clinician perspectives. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and psychometrically validate the new REFLETS questionnaire to evaluate patient and clinician perceptions of plaque-type psoriasis severity and treatment efficacy. METHODS: Two similar versions of the REFLETS questionnaire were developed following a rigorous methodology for clinicians and patients, referring to 'the psoriasis of your patient' or to 'your psoriasis', respectively. An observational, longitudinal, multicentre study was conducted in France with 34 dermatologists and 430 mild to severe plaque-type psoriasis patients to finalize the questionnaire and evaluate its psychometric properties. RESULTS: Two dimensions were defined--severity and treatment efficacy--with three subdimensions within severity (impact of psoriasis, symptoms and disease course), and two individual items on joint pain. The questionnaire was well accepted by clinicians and patients. Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.66-0.98) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.83-0.94) were demonstrated. REFLETS scores were moderately to highly correlated to Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (r = 0.35-0.70), Skindex-29 (r = 0.46-0.82) and DLQI scores (r = 0.36-0.82). Patients with decreased psoriasis severity and those with increased treatment efficacy, according to patient global evaluations, had lower severity and higher treatment efficacy REFLETS scores, respectively. CONCLUSION: REFlective evaLuation of psoriasis Efficacy of Treatment and Severity is a promising tool for assessing plaque-type psoriasis severity and treatment efficacy from patient and clinician perspectives. It may help to improve patient and clinician communication in treatment decision making.

Validation of the adherence evaluation of osteoporosis treatment (ADEOS) questionnaire for osteoporotic post-menopausal women.

SUMMARY: We developed and validated a specific 12-item questionnaire to evaluate adherence to oral antiresorptive medication by post-menopausal osteoporotic women in everyday practice. Over the following 9 months, an index of ≤16 was associated with an increase in the risk of treatment discontinuation of 1.69 and of 2.10 for new patients who had started treatment within the previous year. INTRODUCTION: Adherence to medication in osteoporosis is poor. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a disease-specific questionnaire to evaluate adherence to treatment of women with post-menopausal osteoporosis taking oral antiresorptive medication. METHODS: A prototype adherence questionnaire with 45 items developed from patient interview, literature review, and physician opinion was evaluated in a sample of 350 post-menopausal women with osteoporosis treated in primary care. Item responses were matched against scores on the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). The most discriminant items were retained in the final questionnaire. Concurrent and predictive validity were assessed. RESULTS: Twelve items were associated with MMAS score at a probability level of 0.05. These were retained in the final questionnaire which provided an adherence index ranging from 0 to 22. An index of ≥20 was associated with a high probability of persistence and an index ≤ 16 with a high probability of treatment discontinuation in the following 9 months. CONCLUSIONS: The ADEOS-12 is a simple patient-reported measure to determine adherence to osteoporosis treatments with good concurrent and discriminant validity. This is the first disease-specific adherence measure to have been developed for osteoporosis.

TRF2 inhibition promotes anchorage-independent growth of telomerase-positive human fibroblasts.

Although telomere instability is observed in human tumors and is associated with the development of cancers in mice, it has yet to be established that it can contribute to the malignant transformation of human cells. We show here that in checkpoint-compromised telomerase-positive human fibroblasts an episode of TRF2 inhibition promotes heritable changes that increase the ability to grow in soft agar, but not tumor growth in nude mice. This transforming activity is associated to a burst of telomere instability but is independent of an altered control of telomere length. Moreover, it cannot be recapitulated by an increase in chromosome breaks induced by an exposure to gamma-radiations. Since it can be revealed in the context of telomerase-proficient human cells, telomere dysfunction might contribute to cancer progression even at late stages of the oncogenesis process, after the telomerase reactivation step.