Measuring Facial Appearance in GLP-1 Agonist Use with the FACE-Q Aesthetics Item Library

Area of Science:

• Medical Aesthetics
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Pharmacological Treatments

Background:

• Rapid weight loss from anti-obesity medications can negatively impact facial appearance, causing concerns like sunken cheeks and an aged look.
• Existing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are insufficient for assessing facial changes in this specific context.
• The FACE-Q Aesthetics item library offers a foundation for developing targeted assessment scales.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a concise, fit-for-purpose short-form FACE-Q scale.
• To evaluate the psychometric performance of this new scale in individuals using glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists for weight loss.

Main Methods:

• An international sample of 632 participants using GLP-1 agonists for weight loss completed the FACE-Q item library across three time points.
• Rasch Measurement Theory analysis was employed for item reduction to create the short-form scale.
• Psychometric properties, including construct validity, responsiveness, and test-retest reliability, were rigorously examined.

Main Results:

• A 15-item short-form FACE-Q Aesthetics scale demonstrated excellent fit to the Rasch model.
• High reliability ( >0.83) and strong construct validity (100% of initial hypotheses confirmed) were observed.
• Minimally important differences for improvement were established at 6 (distribution-based) and 10 (anchor-based) points.

Conclusions:

• The developed FACE-Q Aesthetics short-form scale exhibits robust measurement properties.
• This scale is suitable for assessing patient satisfaction with facial appearance in the context of GLP-1 agonist therapy for weight loss.
• The findings support the use of this validated tool in clinical research and practice.