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Development and psychometric evaluation of the FACE-Q Aging Appraisal Scale and Patient-Perceived Age Visual Analog
Vivek Panchapakesan1, Anne F Klassen, Stefan J Cano
1Dr Panchapakesan is an attending surgeon in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at William Osler Health System, Toronto, Canada, and an MSc Candidate at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Background:
The primary outcome measures for patients who undergo aesthetic facial procedures are quality of life and satisfaction with appearance. The FACE-Q, a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument composed of independently functioning scales, is designed to measure a broad range of important outcomes in patients who undergo cosmetic surgical and/or nonsurgical facial procedures.
Objectives:
The authors describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the FACE-Q Aging Appraisal Scale and the FACE-Q Patient-Perceived Age Visual Analog Scale (VAS).
Methods:
International guidelines for creating PRO instruments were strictly observed throughout development of the FACE-Q scales. Qualitative methods were used to identify the concepts most important to patients who received aesthetic facial procedures. These were turned into "items"-and the resultant FACE-Q Aging Appraisal Scale was field tested, along with the Patient-Perceived Age VAS, in 288 patients who underwent cosmetic surgical and/or nonsurgical facial procedures.
Results:
Rasch measurement theory and traditional psychometric methods confirmed the reliability and validity of the scales.
Conclusions:
The FACE-Q Aging Appraisal Scale and Patient-Perceived Age VAS are psychometrically sound, condition-specific PRO instruments with excellent reliability and validity. They enable accurate outcome assessments in patients who undergo aesthetic facial procedures.
