Melasma quality of life measures

Abstract

The Melasma Quality of Life scale (MELASQOL) is a useful tool in assessing quality of life in patients with melasma. Initially developed in English, it has recently been translated into Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and Turkish. Development of a validated, translated, disease-specific quality of life questionnaire is a complex process which is further discussed in this article. When developing the MELASQOL in other languages, careful attention must be paid to cross-cultural adaptation and proper methods of translation and validation to have an accurate instrument. This article addresses these methods, which could be useful to those desiring to develop the MELASQOL in other languages.