The development of an Acne Quality of Life scale: reliability, validity, and relation to subjective acne severity in mild to moderate acne vulgaris

Abstract

We developed a disease-specific 9-item Acne Quality of Life scale that is sensitive to changes in patient-rated indices of acne severity and the psychological morbidity that is associated with acne. Seventy patients with mild to moderate acne vulgaris completed a 12-item scale that was developed to assess both the social and vocational impacts of acne. Factor analysis revealed the presence of two dimensions underlying the quality of life construct. The first dimension consisted of 9 items and addressed the social impact of acne, while the second dimension consisted of 3 items and addressed the vocational impact of acne. Only the first dimension correlated with indices of acne severity, such as pustules and scarring, and all 3 scales correlated with a wide range of psychopathologic measures. The 9-item scale had a very high degree of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. This 9-item scale may be used to evaluate the relation between acne severity and quality of life, especially among mildly to moderately affected patients for whom quality of life issues are often a major consideration in deciding whether or not to institute therapies for the acne.