Normative data for the BODY-Q module in an Australian population and comparison with North American and European...

The BODY-Q is a validated patient-reported outcome measure for assessing perceptions of appearance, health-related quality of life and healthcare experiences. Perception of appearance and body image are influenced by cultural, demographic and societal factors that vary across populations. This study aimed to generate Australian normative BODY-Q data. Secondary aims were to understand variation across sociodemographic groups and between geographic regions.

Participants aged 18 years and older and currently living in Australia provided sociodemographic information and completed appearance and health-related quality of life domains of the BODY-Q. Scale scores were compared across socio-demographic groups, and means compared to published North American and European normative data.

Data were collected from 805 Australian participants. Women reported lower scores than men in four of the five appearance scales and five of the six health-related quality of life scales. Presence of chronic health condition(s) was associated with lower scores in four of the five appearance scales and five of the six health-related quality of life scales. Higher body mass index was associated with lower scores in all BODY-Q scales. Younger age was associated with worse Appearance-related Psychosocial Distress but minimal difference in other scales. Australian participants showed similar scores to Europeans, and both were higher than in North America.

This study provides the first Australian normative scores for the BODY-Q and represents the second publication of normative BODY-Q data internationally. The findings highlight the importance of region-specific normative scores and collecting relevant socio-demographics in patient-reported outcome measures research.