[The French version of Skindex (Skindex-France). Adaptation and assessment of psychometric properties].

INTRODUCTION

The Skindex is an American tool designed to measure the impact of skin diseases on quality of life. The aim of our study was to adapt and validate this questionnaire in French in a population of patients with neurofibromatosis 1.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Translation and cultural adaptation: Translations were performed independently by two bilingual persons, then discussed. A preliminary version was obtained and confronted with 5 persons with low level of education and 6 patients with neurofibromatosis 1, before assessment in 24 neurofibromatosis 1 patients. The final version was named Skindex-France. Validation study: a test-retest study (1 month interval) was performed on 129 subjects with neurofibromatosis 1 to assess reliability and validity.

RESULTS

Acceptability was good with a low rate of missing data (less than 5 p. 100). Ceiling and floor effects were less than 20 p. 100. The scores are sufficiently reliable (Cronbach alpha coefficient: emotions: 0.95, symptoms: 0.86, functioning: 0.94, and test-retest Spearman r: emotions: 0.92, symptoms: 0.84, functioning: 0.90).

CONCLUSION

Skindex-France can be used to measure with precision the impact of skin diseases.