The Acne Quality of Life Index (Acne-QOLI): development and validation of a brief instrument.
BACKGROUND
Acne affects many people and can be detrimental to affected patients' quality of life. Assessing the impact of acne on quality of life requires well-validated and reliable measures of acne-specific quality of life that are brief and easy to administer and interpret.


OBJECTIVE
This paper reports on the development and validation of the Acne Quality of Life Index (Acne-QOLI) for use in clinical care, research, and product development.


METHODS
Focus groups consisting of people from demographically different populations were conducted to identify the most relevant domains of functioning affected by acne; on the basis of these findings, candidate items were developed. An initial item pool of 58 items was included in a survey of 480 persons with mild to severe acne ranging in age from 12 to 62 years. Factor analysis and qualitative analysis were used to reduce the item pool to 21 items. The construct validity, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the items were evaluated.


RESULTS
The 21-item Acne-QOLI showed excellent face validity, content validity, concurrent validity, and construct validity. High internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also found.


CONCLUSIONS
Quality of life is now recognized as an important outcome in medical care. The Acne-QOLI is a brief and easily administered and interpreted measure of acne-related quality of life that can be used in clinical care, research, and product development.
Rapp
Stephen R
SR
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. srapp@wfubmc.edu
Feldman
Steven R
SR
Graham
Gloria
G
Fleischer
Alan B
AB
Brenes
Gretchen
G
Dailey
Maggie
M
D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile