Development and validation of a new tool to assess the Burden of Sensitive Skin (BoSS)

Sensitive skin usually manifests itself as unpleasant sensations and sometimes erythema. There are various triggering factors for this condition. Although sensitive skin may alter quality of life, its burden has not yet been explored.

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a specific sensitive skin burden questionnaire called the BoSS (Burden of Sensitive Skin).

A conceptual phase was developed, followed by a development phase, external validation, psychometric analysis, test-retest analysis and, finally, a translation, cross-cultural adaptation and cognitive debriefing.

A total of 6471 individuals participated in the study (4614 people in the validation study). The dimensionality of items was evaluated using factor analyses, suggesting three dimensions (self-care, daily life and appearance). Unidimensionality was confirmed by higher order factor analysis. The overall Cronbach's α coefficient was high, and intradimensional coherences all demonstrated good reliability. The final instrument consisted of 14 items. The test-retest reliability demonstrated very good reproducibility. The intraclass correlation of each dimension was high. External validity was confirmed by the correlation coefficients of the BoSS vs. those of the SF-12 and the DLQI assessment tools.

BoSS is the first reliable tool to assess the burden of sensitive skin.