Validation of a New International Quality-of-Life Instrument Specific to Cosmetics and Physical Appearance BeautyQol Questionnaire

Objective: To develop a new quality-of-life (QoL) instrument with international validity that specifically assesses cosmetic products and physical appearance. Design: In the first phase, semidirected interviews involved 309 subjects. In the second stage, an acceptability study was performed on 874 subjects. Thereafter, we recruited a total of 3231 subjects, each of whom completed the BeautyQoL questionnaire, a clinical checklist for the skin, the generic QoL 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. A retest was performed 8 days later on a subgroup of 652 subjects. Setting: Populations in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Russia, the United States, Brazil, Japan, India, China, and South Africa, representing 16 languages. Participants: The general adult healthy population, including women and men. Main Outcome Measures: Psychometric properties, construct validity, reproducibility, and internal and external consistency. Results: General acceptability was very good in the 16 languages, with a very low rate of no answers. The validation phase reduced the questionnaire to 42 questions structured in the following 5 dimensions that explained 76.7% of the total variance: social life, self-confidence, mood, energy, and attractiveness. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach alpha coefficients, 0.93-0.98). Reproducibility at 8 days was satisfactory in all dimensions. Results of external validity testing revealed that BeautyQoL scores correlated significantly with all 36-Item Short Form Health Survey scores except for physical function. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the validity and reliability of the BeautyQoL questionnaire as the very first international instrument specific to cosmetic products and physical appearance. Arch Dermatol. 2012; 148(11):1275-1282