Psychometric characteristics of DLQI-BRA and Skindex-16 to measure the impact of dermatological diseases on quality of life in Brazilian patients

Silmara Meneguin; Ticiane Dionozio de Souza Matos; Camila Fernandes Pollo; Miriane Garuzi; Hélio Amante Miot; César de Oliveira

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254882

Psychometric characteristics of DLQI-BRA and Skindex-16 to measure the impact of dermatological diseases on quality of life in Brazilian patients

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 13;16(8):e0254882. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254882. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Silmara Meneguin¹, Ticiane Dionozio de Souza Matos¹, Camila Fernandes Pollo¹, Miriane Garuzi², Hélio Amante Miot³, César de Oliveira⁴

Affiliations

¹ Nursing Department, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Program in Pathophysiology in Medical Practice, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Department of Dermatology and Radiotherapy, São Paulo State University, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the psychometric performance of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI-BRA) and Skindex-16 to assess quality of life (QoL) in Brazilian patients with dermatological diseases.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in a dermatology outpatient clinic of the São Paulo State University, with 188 patients with dermatological diseases. QoL was evaluated using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI-BRA) and Skindex-16. Cronbach's alpha and Intraclass Correlation for Perfect Concordance (ICC) were used to analyse the reliability and temporal stability, respectively.

Results: A positive correlation was found between the total Skindex-16 score and DLQI-BRA (0.75). Both instruments showed a significant (p< 0.01) reduction in their scores at the second assessment, demonstrating that they were sensitive in detecting changes in responsiveness in cases where there was a clinical change. Cronbach alpha coefficients for the instruments showed satisfactory performance (>0,7), but Skindex-16 displayed the highest Cronbach alpha (0.94; CI = 0.93-0.95).

Conclusion: Both instruments tested showed a good psychometric performance assessing QoL in patients with skin dermatoses. The instruments displayed reliability and temporal stability as well as responsiveness.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brazil
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Psychometrics*
Quality of Life*
Reproducibility of Results
Skin Diseases / psychology*
Statistics, Nonparametric
Time Factors

Grants and funding

CO is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (grant: ES/T008822/11). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.