{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T21:26:18Z","timestamp":1792531578299,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"The Journal of Rheumatology","issue":"6","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Rheumatol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective.<\/jats:title><jats:p>To date, \u201chealed\/non-healed\u201d and clinical judgment are the only available assessment tools for digital ulcers (DU) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of our study is to examine a preliminary composite DU clinical assessment score (DUCAS) for SSc for face, content, and construct validity.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods.<\/jats:title><jats:p>Patients with SSc presenting at least 1 finger DU were enrolled and assessed with the Health Assessment Questionnaire\u2013Disability Index, Cochin scale, visual analog scale (VAS) for DU-related pain, patient global DU status, and global assessment as patient-reported outcomes (PRO), and physician VAS for DU status (phyGDU) as an SSc-DU expert physician\/nurse measure. The DUCAS included 7 DU-related variables selected by a committee of SSc DU experts and weighted on a clinical basis. Face validity was examined by consensus and partial construct validity was tested through convergent correlation with other measures of hand function, using Spearman\u2019s correlations. A range of patients with SSc was examined. A linear regression model with backward stepwise analysis was used to determine the relationship of individual variables with the primary clinical parameter, phyGDU.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results.<\/jats:title><jats:p>Forty-four patients with SSc (9 males, mean age 55 \u00b1 15 yrs, mean disease duration 9.9 \u00b1 5.8 yrs) were enrolled in the study. Overall DUCAS showed significant positive correlations with all abovementioned PRO (r &gt; 0.4, p &lt; 0.01). When all scores and scales were modeled, only DUCAS significantly predicted phyGDU (r = 0.59, R<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup> = 0.354, Akaike information criterion = 385.4).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion.<\/jats:title><jats:p>Preliminarily, we suggest that the DUCAS may be a new clinical score for SSc-related DU, having face and content validity and convergent\/divergent correlations (construct validity). These early data suggest that this score deserves further evaluation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3899\/jrheum.171486","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,15]],"date-time":"2018-11-15T12:25:53Z","timestamp":1542284753000},"page":"603-608","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["Preliminary Validation of the Digital Ulcer Clinical Assessment Score in Systemic 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