Family vitiligo impact scale: A scale to measure the quality-of-life of family members of patients with vitiligo

Abstract

Background: Vitiligo places a significant psycho-social burden on caregivers and family members. Aims: The aim of the study was to develop and preliminarily validate a scale to measure the psychosocial impact of vitiligo on adult family members. Methods: Themes that emerged from qualitative interviews and a focus group discussion with family members were used to generate items for a preliminary scale, followed by pre-testing and scale development. The new scale was then tested with two comparator scales and a global question. Results: A preliminary scale with 32 items was pilot tested on 30 participants. Following this, the scale was condensed to 16 items in 12 domains that were administered to 159 participants. Scale scores ranged from 0 to 48 with a mean of 19.75 ± 12.41. The scale had excellent internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.92 (0.70–0.95) and also showed good test-retest reliability at two weeks (r = 0.946). The scale showed criterion, convergent and known group validity. Limitations: It was conducted in a large teaching hospital which may have resulted in selection of patients with persistent or progressive disease and more worried family members. Vitiligo is highly stigmatized in our country and the performance of the scale may need to be evaluated in other communities and cultures as well where stigma is less oppressive. Conclusion: Family Vitiligo Impact Scale appears to be an easy-to-complete, reliable and valid instrument to measure the psychosocial impact of vitiligo in family members of patients. It may be useful as an outcome measure in both clinical and research settings.