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.

Objectives: 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.