Turkish version of Skindex-29.
BACKGROUND
There is a clear need for a useable measure of health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) for dermatology patients. Most of the existing dermatology-specific measures were developed for the English language, and these measures should be adapted for use in other cultures.


OBJECTIVE
To adapt Skindex-29 (one of the most widely recognized dermatology-specific quality-of-life indices) for the Turkish cultural setting.


METHODS
Forward and backward translations were carried out, and for doubtful items the process was repeated until a satisfactory agreement with the original version of Skindex-29 was achieved. The intermediate Turkish version was administered to a group of 20 randomly selected Turkish adults with and without skin conditions. The final Turkish version of the Skindex-29 was administered to 456 patients attending Osmangazi University Dermatology outpatient clinics. Reliability, construct and content validity were assessed.


RESULTS
The instrument was internally consistent, with Cronbach's alpha-coefficients of 0.94, 0.76, 0.88, and 0.92 for entire questionnaire, symptom, emotional, and functional scales, respectively. The Turkish Skindex-29 demonstrated construct and content validity.


CONCLUSIONS
Our evaluation of the Skindex-29 indicates that the instrument is a comprehensible, useable, reliable and valid measure of quality-of-life for Turkish dermatologic patients.
Aksu
Ayse Esra Koku
AE
Department of Dermatology, Osmangazi University Medical School, Eskisehir, Turkey. esraaksu@gmail.com
Urer
Murat Selim
MS
Sabuncu
Ilham
I
Saracoglu
Zeynep Nurhan
ZN
Chren
Mary-Margaret
MM
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey