FACE-Q for Measuring Patient-reported Outcomes after Facial Skin Cancer Surgery: Cross-cultural Validation

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Health Outcomes Research
• Dermatology

Background:

• Facial skin cancer and its surgical treatment significantly impact patients' health-related quality of life.
• The FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module is a validated patient-reported outcome measure for assessing quality of life.
• A Dutch translation of the FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module is now available.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric performance of the Dutch version of the FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module.
• To assess the validity and reliability of the translated measure in a Dutch patient cohort.
• To utilize modern psychometric measurement theory (Rasch analysis) for performance evaluation.

Main Methods:

• Prospective recruitment of Dutch participants with facial skin cancer.
• Administration of the translated FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module.
• Rasch model analysis to test unidimensionality, local independence, monotonicity, item thresholds, fit statistics, internal consistency, and targeting.
• Responsiveness testing for the 'cancer worry' scale.

Main Results:

• 259 patients completed the preoperative questionnaire.
• All five assessed scales demonstrated good or sufficient fit to the Rasch model.
• Unidimensionality and monotonicity were confirmed across all scales, with most scales showing ordered thresholds and appropriate fit statistics.

Conclusions:

• The Dutch translation of the FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module exhibits strong psychometric validity.
• The measure is suitable for use in a Dutch cohort to assess health-related quality of life in facial skin cancer patients.
• Both classical and modern test theory support the reliability and validity of the translated module.