REVIEW ARTICLE

A Systematic Review of 207 Studies Describing Validation Aspects of the Dermatology Life Quality Index

Jui VYAS1, Jeffrey R. JOHNS2, Faraz M. ALI2, John R. INGRAM2, Sam SALEK3 and Andrew Y. FINLAY2

1Centre for Medical Education, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, 2Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, and 3School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

This study systematically analysed peer-reviewed publications describing validation aspects of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and used Naicker’s Critically Appraising for Antiracism Tool to assess risk of racial bias. Seven online databases were searched from 1994 until 2022 for articles containing DLQI validation data. Methodology followed PRISMA guidelines, the protocol was registered in PROSPERO, and articles reviewed independently by two assessors. Of 1,717 screened publications, 207 articles including 58,828 patients from > 49 different countries and 41 diseases met the inclusion criteria. The DLQI demonstrated strong test–retest reliability; 43 studies confirmed good internal consistency. Twelve studies were performed using anchors to assess change responsiveness with effect sizes from small to large, giving confidence that the DLQI responds appropriately to change. Forty-two studies tested known-groups validity, providing confidence in construct and use of the DLQI over many parameters, including disease severity, anxiety, depression, stigma, scarring, well-being, sexual function, disease location and duration. DLQI correlation was demonstrated with 119 Patient Reported Outcomes/Quality of Life measures in 207 studies. Only 15% of studies explicitly recruited minority ethnic participants; 3.9% stratified results by race/ethnicity. This review summarizes knowledge concerning DLQI validation, confirms many strengths of the DLQI and identifies areas for further validation.

SIGNIFICANCE

The Dermatology Life Quality Index is a questionnaire that measures how skin disease affects people’s lives. It is commonly used because it is simple and easy to use, and the scores have meaning. This study looked at 207 published medical articles to find out about how appropriate and accurate the Dermatology Life Quality Index is to use. This confirmed the many strengths of the Dermatology Life Quality Index, supporting its very wide acceptance and use. This study provides valuable information for researchers and doctors who may want to use it in the future and continue its use in routine clinical practice as well as in clinical trials of new treatments.

Key words: Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI); validation; quality of life; patient-reported outcome measures.

 

Citation: Acta Derm Venereol 2024; 104: adv41120. DOI https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v104.41120.

Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by MJS Publishing, on behalf of the Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Submitted: Jul 16, 2024; Accepted after revision: Sep 12, 2024; Published: Nov 7, 2024

Corr: Jui Vyas, Centre for Medical Education, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK. E-mail: vyasjj@cardiff.ac.uk

Competing interests and funding: AYF is joint copyright owner of the DLQI. Cardiff University receives royalties from some use of the DLQI: AYF receives a proportion of these under standard university policy. JI receives a stipend as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Dermatology and an authorship honorarium from UpToDate. He is a consultant for Abbvie, Boehringer Ingelheim, ChemoCentryx, Novartis and UCB Pharma and has served on advisory boards for Insmed, Kymera Therapeutics and Viela Bio. He is co-copyright holder of HiSQOL, Investigator Global Assessment and Patient Global Assessment instruments for HS. His department receives income from royalties from the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and related instruments. SS has received an unrestricted educational grant from GSK, is a consultant for Novo Nordisk and produces educational materials for Abbvie. JV participated in an Advisory Board for Amgen, has received payment or honoraria from L’Oreal and support from UCB pharma for attending meetings. FA has received honorariums from Abbvie, Janssen, LEO pharmaceuticals, Lilly pharmaceuticals, L’Oreal, Novartis and UCB. His department receives income from royalties from the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and related instruments. JJ has no conflicts of interest to report. His department receives income from royalties from the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and related instruments.
Funding was provided by the Division of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

 

INTRODUCTION

The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) (1) is the most widely used tool for clinicians and researchers to understand the burden of skin diseases on patients and to assess the effectiveness of interventions. The DLQI was created in order to measure the impact over the last seven days of skin disease on the quality of life of patients. A systematic review has identified the use of the DLQI in 454 randomised controlled trials encompassing 68 diseases and 42 countries (2). The extensive world-wide clinical use of the DLQI includes being incorporated in guidelines or registries in at least 45 countries (3).

It is important therefore that users have access to what has been published concerning the validation of this instrument. Validating quality of life questionnaires is critical to ensure they accurately and reliably measure what they intend to measure (4). However, often information is published alongside the reporting of other aspects of the use of the DLQI, resulting in much validation being difficult to identify and access. There have been systematic reviews of scoring methods applied to DLQI data (5) and of the correlation of the DLQI with psychiatric measures(6), but to date no comprehensive systematic reviews of DLQI validation has been carried out.

There have been many relevant studies published since two previous reviews (7,8) of DLQI validation. The aim of this systematic review was to identify all published aspects of DLQI validation since the DLQI was published in 1994 (1).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Scope of the study

We defined validation as the collection and analysis of data to assess the validity and reliability of a Quality of Life (QoL) instrument to determine the extent to which an instrument measures what it purports to measure (4, 9). We defined patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures as those completed directly by the patient based on their own perception including: quality of life; patient satisfaction; and/or signs and symptoms.

Our eligibility criteria for validation included:

Ineligible criteria for validation:

Data sources

This study follows 2020 PRISMA guidelines for reporting systematic reviews (10). The study protocol and detailed search strategy was published on PROSPERO Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42022308453) (11) and details are also given in the Appendix S1 DLQI Validation Studies Search strategy. Medline (Ovid), Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, SCOPUS, CINAHL(EBSCO) and PsycINFO online databases from January 1, 1994 (DLQI creation) to December 31, 2022 were searched independently by two authors (JJ, JV), and results corroborated. Search terms included ‘DLQI’ and ‘dermatology life quality index’. As complete a list as possible of validation search terms was used to ensure comprehensive coverage without creating excessive non-relevant data. Database specific “article type/study type” keywords, language keywords (English) keywords were also used to search the required types of study to be included. Because of the difficulty of age selection (16 years old and over) using database search terms, all ages were included in the search, and those below the inclusion age were filtered manually in EndNote. Duplicate records were excluded.

Search strategy/Selection

A set of eligibility criteria were applied for selection of the included studies (Table I). Search results were imported into EndNote20® (12). Two authors (JJ, JV) independently compared study titles and abstracts retrieved by searches against the inclusion and exclusion criteria and examined full study texts. Rejected studies were recorded with reasoning. A third author (FA) resolved and recorded any study selection disagreements (10) (Fig. 1).

Table I. Eligibility criteria for study selection
Variable Inclusion Exclusion
Patients

- Any gender, ethnicity, settings, countries

- Any inflammatory and non-inflammatory dermatological conditions

- Persons under the age of 16 (the DLQI was originally designed and validated for use with ages 16 years and older)

Methods

- Adaptive clinical trial, case reports, clinical study, clinical trial, all, clinical trial, controlled clinical trial, equivalence trial, evaluation study, multicenter study, observational study, randomized controlled trial, validation study

- Published between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 2022

- Not in English language

- ‘Grey’ literature including dissertations, conference abstracts, reports, editorials, letters to editors, commentaries, protocols, reviews, conference proceedings, and dissertations

Outcomes

- Study presented at least one element of DLQI validation

- No DLQI data given

Figure 1
Fig. 1. PRISMA flow diagram reporting the number of records identified from each database. Inclusion criteria applied by search engines where applicable, i.e., English language, journal articles, peer reviewed.

Data extracted

The recorded Information included the study aim, disease studied, disease severity, research setting, e.g. trial, hospital, clinic, community, single or multi-centred, number of sites, study countries, the number of subjects for which DLQI data was collected, the study type and design of the original data collected, DLQI mean scores at baseline and DLQI endpoints, and details of validation methods used including type, statistical test or specific analysis methods e.g. exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for factor structure, test–retest, internal consistency, responsiveness, clinical meaning (MCID) and validity. Data on cross-cultural adaptations and DIF were also collected. For convergent validity, only correlations with other PRO QoL measures were included (Appendix S1). Known group analysis was captured when statistical testing was applied to defined groups where there would be an expected difference e.g. disease severity as the anchor. However, when there was no indication from the author of the expectancy of a difference (a priori hypothesis or reference to a previously published study) by age and gender for example, the data was not extracted.

Data extraction and synthesis

For data extraction, guidance of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions was followed (13). A REDCap database (1416) (a secure web application for building/managing online surveys and databases) was created. The authors JJ and JV independently extracted data from the included publications to parallel REDCap database tables, and an adjudicator (FA) resolved any disagreements in data extraction. Missing data were noted in the data templates, but none was sufficiently important to contact original authors. The two reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias (quality) of included studies using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidelines (17).

Racial bias in research can also impact a study’s validity, reliability and relevancy (1820). Minoritised populations have different outcomes, in part due to genetic ancestry (21), and thus recruiting for diversity is essential and results should be stratified by race/ethnicity if relevant to the study (22). This aspect is currently rarely addressed in systematic reviews of validation. To raise awareness of this issue, appraisal of representation of minorities ethnic participants in the studies was conducted using Naicker’s Critically Appraising for Antiracism Tool (23).

We considered disease severity as a clinical outcome, not a patient reported outcome. Good correlations would only be expected between closely related QOL measures (convergent validity) and therefore correlations between the DLQI and disease severity/burden measures (objective parameters rated by clinicians e.g. PASI) were not extracted, only correlations with other PRO/QOL measures were considered appropriate as they are different constructs.

Good correlations would only be expected between closely related QOL measures (convergent validity) and therefore correlations between the DLQI and disease severity/burden measures (objective parameters rated by clinicians e.g. PASI) were not extracted, only correlations with other PRO-QOL measures.

As this is a systematic review, all methods used were reported, not just those that are considered good evidence or good measurement properties (24). Thus intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), interclass relationship (ICR), Spearman’s, Pearson’s, Wilcoxon and interrater reliability kappa statistics were all reported, although only ICC and kappa measures (with their associated rating and criteria) are considered “good” methods by the COSMIN guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 1661 studies were provided by database searching after removing 679 duplicates. After filtering these in an EndNote database for inclusion/exclusion criteria, 231 full text articles were assessed, of which 207 described research on 58,828 patients meeting the inclusion eligibility criteria (Fig. 1). Publications of validation of the DLQI are increasing, with 15 new studies reported in 2022 (Fig. S1).

Study sites and settings

136 (65.7%) of the studies were conduced at a single site, 40 were multicentre (19.3%) and 27 (8.7%) did not specify, for three (1.45%) a site was not applicable, and one (0.48%) was a postal survey. Of the multicentre studies, 14 (35.0%) were conducted at two sites, 15 (37.5% at 3–10 sites, 5 (12.5%) at 11–20 sites, and 6 (15.0%) at > 20 sites. Most studies (173, 83.6%) did not involve any intervention, and were not part of a clinical trial.

The original study designs comprised one randomised control trial (RCT, blinding not specified), five RCT double blinded, four RCT single blinded, four open-label, one cohort study, 15 case controlled, 173 with no specific intervention, and two not determinable.

The design used for validation analysis comprised 28 multiple arm, 165 single arm, 172 cross sectional, 25 longitudinal, 5 placebo controlled, 1 parallel group, 2 Phase II RCT, 3 Phase III RCT, 1 Phase IV RCT and one cross-over study (some in multiple categories).

Trials were conducted in at least 49 different countries, although two reported multiple countries without listing details (Table SI). Most studies were conducted in single countries: USA (n = 21, 9.7%), Turkey (17, 7.9%), UK (15, 6.9%), China (14, 6.5), Brazil (13, 6.0%), Germany (13, 6.0%), Iran (11, 5,1%), Italy (5,1%) with 101 (46.8%) countries having <5 studies, and 21 (9.7%) countries only having a single study.

At least 33 different language variants (including specific adaptations e.g. Arabic Egypt, Arabic Lebanon, Arabic Morocco, Arabic Saudi Arabia, Arabic Tunisia) were used in the studies. 53 (37.6%) of studies did not specify explicitly which language version of the DLQI they used, while 12 studies (8.5%) used multiple language versions. The English version was the most used (39 studies, 27.7%), followed by Turkish (13, 9.2%), Portuguese (12, 8.5%), Chinese Mandarin (10, 7.1%), and Farsi (10, 7.1%).

Disease profile

Forty-one different diseases were studied. Most studies were of psoriasis (n = 52, 25.5%), followed by atopic dermatitis (n = 18, 8.8%), vitiligo (n = 14, 1.9%), acne (n = 11, 5.4%), eczema (n = 10, 4.9%), and urticaria (n = 8, 3.9%). A complete list is given in Appendix S1. Overall, studies recruited patients with mild (n = 64, 18.9%), moderate (n = 82, 24.3%) and severe (n = 81, 24.0%) disease, with 111 (32.8%) unspecified.

Content validity

Validity measures included 43 known group, 10 construct, 21 convergent, 4 concurrent, 2 divergent/discriminant, 8 content, 4 criterion, 2 face and 2 predictive validity tests using Mann-Whitney (18), Spearman’s correlation (11), Pearson’s correlation (6) and Student’s t-test (6), EFA (1), CFA (1) and 11 with other tests. DLQI responsiveness analysis was performed in 12 studies, using paired t-test (1), effect size (5), correlation of DLQI with another measures (7), Analysis of Variance test (ANOVA) (1), Wilcoxon two-sample (2) and bivariate models (1) (Table SI(A)).

Dimensionality and factor structure

A total of 28 studies applied either factor analysis or item response theory to examine the dimensionality of the DLQI. A variable number of factors (one–four) underlying the DLQI structure was demonstrated in these studies (Table SI(B)).

Test–retest reliability and internal consistency reliability

Test–retest reliability of the DLQI was assessed in 13 studies (Table II), reporting Spearman’s rank correlations between 0.97 and 0.99, a Pearson’s correlation of 0.96, ICC between 0.77 and 0.983 with 7 of 9 above 0.90, ICR of 0.96, and a Kappa of 0.83. All of these were above acceptance values (ICC very high (ICC > 0.9), high (ICC > 0.75), moderate (ICC between 0.5–0.75) (25) or Kappa 0.81–1.00 as almost perfect agreement (26), and Spearman’s between 0.7 and 0.9 indicating strong correlations (27). Test–retest intervals reported were between 5 to 10 days (to minimise under or over-estimation) in line with published recommendations (9). The internal consistency of the DLQI was assessed in 43 studies (Table II) and ranged from 0.673 to 0.997 with a mean value of 0.834 and standard deviation of 0.069. 41 out of 42 (95.3%) of Cronbach’s alpha values reported were above the acceptance value of ≥ 0.70 (17).

Table II. Test–retest reliability and internal consistency reliability studies
Reference Country DLQI completed Disease Method used Results COSMIN
Test–retest reliability
Finlay 1994(1) United Kingdom 100 Any skin disease Spearman’s rank correlation Test–retest reliability correlation coefficients Spearman rank gamma = 0-99, p < 0.0001); test–retest reliability of individual question scores (gamma =0.95–0.98, p <0.001) ?
Badia 1999(34) Spain 246 Eczema and psoriasis ICC ICC eczema 0.77, psoriasis 0.90 +
Jobanputra 2000(35) South Africa 660 84 different diagnoses were made during the study. Dermatitis, including atopic and contact dermatitis (26%), psoriasis (18%), and acne (10%) were the most common disorders Spearman’s rank correlation r=0.97; p < 0.0001 (n = 65)
Ferraz 2006(36) Brazil 115 Multiple for reliability incl. onychomycosis and psoriasis (6 patients each), Contact dermatitis 4, and solar keratosis, viral warts, vitiligo (3 patients each). Lupus Erthematous for validity ICR,Pearson’s Pearson correlation coefficient for inter-observer reliability was 0.96 (p <0.001), n = 44 ?
Takahashi 2006(37) Japan 197 Acne ICC Test–retest reliability of the DLQI-J was slightly less than that of the original English version. n = 44 ICC=0.90) +
Baranzoni 2007(38) Italy 22 Any skin disease ICC, Wilcoxon’s signed rank test Retest at 1–2 weeks. n = 19 ICC = 0.983, p <0.001. Weighted kappa between 0.644 and 0.984 for items. No statistically significant difference found in total score between 1st and 2nd assessments (p = 0.016). p > 0.15 for all but 2 questions: symptoms p = 0.083 and clothes p = 0.096. mean DLQI 1st assessment = 9.14 ± 5.50, and 2nd assessment = 9.45 ± 5.86 +
Mackenzie, 2011(39) Canada 60 Psoriasis and Psoriatic arthritis ICC 0.96 (0.93, 0.97) (n = 60) +
Madarasingha 2011(40) Sri Lanka 200 Eczema (24.5%), Psoriasis (23.0%), Acne (10.0%), Vitiligo (14.5%), Infections (10.5%), Other (17.5%) Cohen’s Kappa Kappa test–retest reliability coefficient of 0.83 +
Khoudri 2013(41) Morocco 244 Psoriasis ICC ICC of the test–retest reliability was 0.97 for the overall DLQI and exceeded 0.70 in all scales. +
Liu 2012(42) China 131 Urticaria ANOVA ANOVA with Friedman’s test chi2 = 320.61 (p <0.001) indicated good repeatability using the DLQI of Chinese version. ?
Ali 2017(43) United Kingdom 104 Any skin disease ICC, Wilcoxon’s signed rank test ICC = 0,98; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97–0.99 +
Jesmin 2021(44) Bangladesh 80 Psoriasis ICC ICC= 0.97 +
Meneguin 2021(45) Brazil 188 psoriasis, cellulitis/erysipelas, chronic ulcers and eczematous dermatosis, other dermatoses ICC For cases that did not show any clinical change in their disease status (n = 44), first interview media n = 9 (4.5–11), second interview after 7 to 14 days media n = 10 (5.5–11.5). ICC 0.95 (CI 0.88–0.98) +
Schwartzman 2021(46) United States 994 Atopic dermatitis ICC 0.81 (95% CI 0.76–0.85) +
Internal consistency reliability studies
Finlay 1994(1) United Kingdom 100 Any skin disease Consistency between all questions when paired was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.002) ranging from Rank correlations of 0-23-0-70 ?
Badia 1999(34) Spain 246 Eczema and psoriasis α = 0·83 +
Jobanputra 2000(35) South Africa 660 84 different diagnoses were made during the study. Dermatitis, including atopic and contact dermatitis (26%), psoriasis (18%), and acne (10%) were the most common disorders α = 0.83. The inter-item rank correlation coefficients ranged from 0.04 to 0.54 +
Zachariae 2000(47) Denmark 400 Psoriasis, Atopic eczema, Other eczema, Urticaria, Bullous disease, Erythroderma, Hyperhidrosis, Collagenosis, Pruritus, Acne, Viral warts, Miscellaneous α = 0.88 +
Shikiar 2003(48) United States 1095 Psoriasis Study A baseline α =0.871, week12 α =0.921; Study B baseline α =0.869, week12 α =0.919 +
Aghaei 2004(49) Iran 70 Vitiligo α = 0.77 Cronbach’s alpha by domain, and by gender, marital status, severity, and extension of disease, and +
Ilgen 2005(50) Türkiye 108 Acne α = 0.87 +
Mazzotti 2005(51) Italy 900 Psoriasis a = 0.83; item-total correlation = 0.40–0.70 +
Ozturkcan 2006(52) Türkiye 79 Eczema-contact dermatitis, Psoriasis, Urticaria, chronic urticaria, Tinea, Alopecia areata, Acne Cronbach’s α = 0.87. The item versus total (overall). Spearman’s correlation coefficients ranged from 0.48–0.81 with a median of 0.66, and the subscales versus total (overall) ranged from 0.71–0.83 with a median of 0.77. The α value was 0.84 for the age groups under 20 years and 0.89 for the 21+ years age group males 0.83 and females 0.88; outpatients 0.86 and inpatients 0.87; eczema/acne 0.90 and other dermatological disorders 0.84). +
Shikiar 2006(53) United States 147 Psoriasis α was 0.89 at baseline, 0.92 at Week 12 +
Takahashi 2006(37) Japan 197 Acne α = 0.83. Exclusion of any one of the 10 items did not increase α by > than 0.01. +
Baranzoni 2007(38) Italy 22 Any skin disease α = 0.787 for 1st assessment, 0.828 for 2nd assessment +
Mazharinia 2007(54) Iran 109 Burns Cronbach’s α for physical Q1,3,5,7,10, psychological Q2,4,6,8, and sexual domains Q9 and for total DLQI were 0.78, 0.77, 0.72, and 0.75, respectively. +
Henok 2008(55) Ethiopia 74 Podoconiosis Overall α value was 0.90, standardized item alpha 0.89. Average inter-item correlation was 0.44, item total correlation ranged from 0.15 to 0.81. Only item 6 (about sport) had a value of <0.2. The average item total correlation was 0.64. +
Aghaei 2009(56) Iran 125 Psoriasis α = 0.79 +
An 2010 (57) China 128 Leprosy Cronbach’s α = 0.765, standardized item α =0.759, Average inter-item correlation was 0.240 (> 0.2), Item total correlation ranged from 0.212 to 0.596. Average item total correlation was 0.427. +
Madarasingha 2011(40) Sri Lanka 200 Eczema (24.5%), Psoriasis (23.0%), Acne (10.0%), Vitiligo (14.5%), Infections (10.5%), Other (17.5%) Cronbach’s α 0.561 to 0.741 (except for the personal relationship domain). Healthy volunteers (n = 40): Symptoms and feelings (0.598), Daily activities (0.654), Leisure (0.569). Personal relationships (0.498). Patients (n = 200): Symptoms and feelings (0.561), Daily activities (0.741, Leisure (0.687). Personal relationships (0.442).
Liu 2012(42) China 131 Urticaria α was 0.82, and it became 0.84 when item 1 was deleted. The α value reached 0.85 after standardization +
Maksimovic 2012(58) Serbia 66 Atopic dermatitis α = 0.84 +
Twiss 2012(59) United Kingdom 292 Psoriasis and Atopic dermatitis The Person Separation Index (PSI) indicated that the DLQI had adequate internal reliability. +
An 2013(60) China 395 Neurodermatitis or psoriasis vulgaris Cronbach’s α =0.889. Average inter-item correlation = 0.415, item-total correlation ranged from 0.483 to 0.711, average item-total correlation was 0.628. +
He 2013(61) China 851 Psoriasis α = 0.91. Exclusion of any one of the 10 items did not increase a by more than 0.01. Corrected item-total correlations ranged from 0.51 to 0.79 +
Khoudri 2013(41) Morocco 244 Psoriasis Overall 0.70 (α = 0.84) and ranged in all scales from 0.33 to 0.75. Item internal congruency 0.82– 0.90. ICC 0.85–0.97 +
Lilly 2013(62) United States 90 Vitiligo Cronbach α = 0.935. Item-total correlations ranged between 0.56 and 0.84 except for VitiQoL question 13 (‘’Has your skin condition affected your sun protection efforts during recreation?’’) with a correlation of 0.36. +
Liu 2013(63) China 106 Pruritic papular eruption α = 0.673 for the six dimensions (Symptoms and feelings, Daily activities, Leisure, Work and School, Personal relationships and Treatment) were 0.633, 0.777, 0.771, 0.785, 0.772 and 0.684 respectively.
Lockhart 2013(64) United Kingdom 85 Vulval intraepithelial neoplasia α = 0.93 +
Thomas 2014(65) India 38 Lymphatic Filariasis α = 0.73 +
Wachholz 2014(66) Brazil 41 Leg ulcers α = 0.729 +
Qi 2015(67) China 698 Alopecia α = 0.887, standardized item alpha was 0.881, The average inter-item correlation was 0.425 (> .2), suggesting good reliability. The item total correlation ranged from 0.180 to 0.797. The average item total correlation was 0.617 +
Chernyshov 2016(68) Ukraine 126 Psoriasis and atopic dermatitis α =0.81 for AD and 0.86 for psoriasis +
Solgajová 2016(69) Slovakia 104 Acne or atopic dermatitis α = 0.82 Note: Aghaei et al., 2004; (Liu) Zhibin et al., 2013 don’t give this value, it must be from this study! +
Kirby 2017(70) United States 154 Hidradenitis Suppuratvia α = 0.90 R, version 3.3.2 +
Cozzani 2018(71) Italy 50 Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis α = 0.90 (0.88–0.92 for items). Highest value for the item-test correlation (r = 0.89) was for item 9 (interpersonal relationships), while the lowest corresponded to item 6 (leisure; r = 0.31). α increased to 0.90 only with the deletion of item 5 (sociability) +
Hunt 2018(72) Vietnam 102 Leprosy α = 0.78 +
Shimizu 2018 (73) Brazil 116 Alopecia α = 0.87 +
Xiao 2018(74) China 465 Arsenic-related skin lesions and symptoms Cronbach’s α was 0.79, and the split-half reliability was 0.77 +
Beamer 2019(75) United States 40 Radio-dermatitis α = 0.69 with work and study item was removed from analysis because the variance was zero. Inter-item correlation from 0.10 to 0.66 Removal of treatment subscale (item) would improve alpha by .15.
Patel 2019(33) United States 340 Atopic dermatitis Cronbach’s α = 0.89. Spearman rho Interitem correlations 0.30 to 0.62 +
Satti 2019(76) Pakistan 173 Uremic pruritus α = 0.71 +
Storck 2018(77) Germany 79 Pruritus α Paper based 0.80, iPAD electronic1 0.81, iPAD electronic2 0.81 +
Temel 2019(78) Türkiye 150 Acne vulgaris (AV) or vitiligo, or alopecia areata (AA) α acne vulgaris 0.812, vitiligo 0.329, alopecia areata 0.915 +
Demirci 2020(79) Türkiye 100 Psoriasis α =0.82 (SPSS 20.0) +
Jorge 2020(80) Brazil 1286 14 dermatoses. (Basal cell carcinoma Bullous disorders, Female alopecia Genital warts, Hidradenitis suppurativa, Leprosy, Melasma, Onychocriptosis, Photoaging, Psoriasis, Rosacea, Uremic pruritus, Urticaria, Vitiligo) Total Cronbach’s α (CI 95%) 0.90 (0.89–0.91); 0.72–0.91 for individual diseases. If any item was excluded, Cronbach’s α for the total sample ranged from 0.87 to 0.89 . Highlighed cultural difficulty of q9 (sexual life) within the population. IRT analysis indicates that q9 is most affected with severe HRQOL impact. +
Paudel 2020(81) Nepal 149 Urticaria α = 0.88, standardised 0.89, and did not change with the deletion of any of the items. The interitem correlation matrix revealed that the Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) ranged from 0.097 to 0.730. All items had a satisfactory correlation with each other. Items 1–4 α = 0.79, items 5–10 α =0.86 +
Meneguin 2021(45) Brazil 188 Psoriasis, cellulitis/erysipelas, chronic ulcers and eczematous dermatosis, other dermatoses α = 0.85 (CI 0.82–0.88) +
Pollo 2021(82) Brazil 281 Psoriasis α = 0.87 +
Kolokotsa 2022(83) Greece 150 Acne α = 0.80 +
Data was extracted from referenced publications.
For test–retest reliability COSMIN: “+” ICC or weighted Kappa ≥ 0.70; “?” ICC or weighted Kappa not reported; “–” ICC or weighted Kappa < 0.70. The criteria are based on Prinsen et al.(17).
For internal consistency reliability COSMIN: “+” At least low evidence for sufficient structural validitya AND Cronbach’s alpha(s) ≥ 0.70 for each unidimensional scale or subscaleb; “?” Criteria for “At least low evidence for sufficient structural validitya” not met; “–” At least low evidence for sufficient structural validitya AND Cronbach’s alpha(s) < 0.70 for each unidimensional scale or subscaleb.
aThis evidence may come from different studies.
bThe criteria ‘Cronbach alpha < 0.95’ was deleted, as this is relevant in the development phase of a PROM and not when evaluating an existing PROM. The criteria are based on Prinsen et al. (17)

Responsiveness to change

Although many clinical trials have demonstrated DLQI score change in patients’ QoL before and after treatment, only 12 studies were included (Table III), where the study was specifically conducted and statistical analysis using anchors performed to assess the responsiveness to change of the DLQI. Effect sizes were reported between 0.3 and 0.82 where effects are considered small 0.2, medium 0.5, large 0.8 and very large 1.3 (28). Pearson’s/Spearman’s correlations with other measures ranged from –0.35 to 0.75 with correlation of ±0.2 small, ±0.5 medium and ±0.8 large (28). Significant responsiveness by ANOVA and Wilcoxon 2-sample (paired) analysis was also demonstrated. Although in assessing responsiveness to change, the effect size of change is not informative according to COSMIN, however, as this is a systematic review we have reported all validation data. The method for calculating effect size is missing for some studies where it was not reported.

Table III. Responsiveness to change studies of the DLQI
References Country DLQI completed Disease Methods Results Method other COSMIN
Badia 1999(34) Spain 246 Eczema and psoriasis Effect size (ES) Effect sizes (ES) for changes in overall DLQI score between visits 1 and 3 were 0·82 for eczema patients and 0·58 for psoriasis patients ?
Shikiar 2003(48) United States 1095 Psoriasis Correlation of DLQI with other measure, ANOVA Pearson’s correlations Among Change Scores of DLQI and change scores of Study 1 PASI (0.47), OLS (0.43) and PGA (0.46); Study 2 PASI (0.54), OLS (0.46) and PGA (0.53) all p <0.001. ANOVA of DLQI Among Three Groups of PASI Improvement Scores:≥ 75%; Between 50% and 75%; and < 50%: Study A mean change score (N) <50% 4.79 (230), ≥ 50% and <75% 13.53 (96), ≥ 75% 18.63 (110), F statistic=54.61 p <0.0001. Study B mean change score (N) <50% 2.49 (268), ≥ 50% and <75% 6.83 (146), ≥ 75% 10.03 (122), F statistic=75.05, p <0.0001 +
Shikiar 2006(53) United States 147 Psoriasis Correlation of DLQI with other measure DLQI Correlations Baseline EQ-5D Index (0.51), EQ-5D VAS (–0.35); Week12 EQ-5D Index (–0.71), EQ-5D VAS (–0.58); Change EQ-5D Index (–0.53), Change EQ-5D VAS (–0.46), all p <0.001. +
Takahashi 2014(84) Japan 119 Psoriasis Correlation of DLQI with other measure Spearman’s correlation PASI and DLQI scores. r = 0.134, P = 0.63. +
Basra 2015(85) United Kingdom 192 Any skin disease Paired t-test, Effect size (ES) Mean DLQI total score BL 9.8 SD 7.8, follow-up 7.4 SD 7.1, mean change 2.4 t-test p = 0.001, Cohen’s effect size = 0.3, SRM 0.4 +
Richter 2017(86) Germany 41 Acne Effect size (ES) Overall ES=0.64. Divided into the responder groups (based on Investigator Static Global Assessment; ISGA), highest ES were detected in the ‘Highly improved’ group (ISGA > =2, ES=0.66. +
Patel 2019(33) United States 340 Atopic dermatitis Effect size (ES) Overall, DLQI scores changed significantly between baseline and the next visit. Cohen’s d = –0.74 for > =1 point POEM improvement, d=–0.72 > =3.4 point POEM improvement (MCID); d=0.28 for > =1 point POEM worsening, d=0.65 for > =0.3.4 points POEM worsening (MCID) +
Silverberg 2020(87) United States 118 Atopic dermatitis Correlation of DLQI with other measure, Wilcoxon 2-sample Changes from baseline in PROMIS Cognitive Function T-scores were weakly inversely correlated (Spearman’s) with changes from baseline DLQI (r = –0.22, p = 0.0003) The impact of cognitive dysfunction (PROMIS Cognitive Function T-score <=45%) on HRQOL was examined in bivariable models (Mann-Whitney U-test) stratified by Patient’s Global Assessment (PGA). There were generally stepwise increases in DLQI and ItchyQoL scores between mild, moderate, and severe AD +
Silverberg 2020(88) United States 410 Atopic dermatitis Correlation of DLQI with other measure NRS worse 0.26, NRS average 0.33, VRS worse 0.27, VRS average 0.28, all p <0.001 Follow-up visit duration of 0.3 ± 0.4 years (maximum 1.9 years) n = 374. Change in numeric rating scales (NRS) and verbal rating scales (VRS) vs change in DLQI
Meneguin 2021(45) Brazil 188 Psoriasis, cellulitis/erysipelas, chronic ulcers and eczematous dermatosis, other dermatoses Correlation of DLQI with other measure, Wilcoxon 2-sample Spearman’s: correlation (ρ) : Skindex-16 Total r=0.75; Sk-16 symptoms r=0.57; Sk-16 emotions r=0.66; Sk-16 functionality r=0.70 For patients showing clinical improvements using the Wilcoxon test, First interview media n = 10 (6.5–15.5); second interview after 7 to 14 days media n = 7.50 (4.5–13); p <0.01 +
Schwartzman 2021(46) United States 994 Atopic dermatitis Correlation of DLQI with other measure, Wilcoxon matched Change in DLQI score with change PGH T scores. Change in DLQI score with change PO-SCORAD r=0.39, change PHQ-9 r=0.41, change PROMIS sleep Disturbance r=0.40, change PROMIS sleep Related impairment r=0.22, change Objective SCORAD r=0.53, change SCORAD r=0.58, all p <0.001 +
Papoui 2022(89) Cyprus 38 Pruritus Effect size (ES) Control Group Mean DLQI ± SD, Week 1 7.9 ± 6.2 Week 2 9.6 ± 6.2 Week 3 9.7 ± 5.3; Intervention Group Mean DLQI ± SD, Week1 8.7 ± 7.4 Week2 7.9 ± 4.7 Week3 7.5 ± 4.7 Cohen’s d Week1, –0.12 Week2 0.31 Week3 0.44 +
Data was extracted from referenced publications.
COSMIN: “+” The result is in accordance with the hypothesis OR AUC ≥ 0.70; “?” No hypothesis defined (by the review team); “–” The result is not in accordance with the hypothesis OR AUC < 0.70. The criteria are based on Prinsen et al.(17)

Studies assessing known group analysis of the Dermatology Life Quality Index

Table SI(C) shows studies where known group validity (i.e. a type of construct validity) analysis was performed on the DLQI. We included studies where known group analysis was performed, even if the authors had not stated an a priori hypothesis. Only four studies reported effect sizes. A majority of the statistical tests performed in the known group analyses (Student’s t, Pearson’s correlation, Spearman’s correlation, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis) to discriminate between the studies groups showed statistical significance. Known-groups validity evidence is essential to provide confidence in the construct and use of a measure, and the DLQI demonstrates this over a wide variety of groups (e.g. disease severity, anxiety, depression, stigma, scarring, well-being, sexual function, disease location, disease duration, race).

Studies assessing the correlation of the Dermatology Life Quality Index with other PRO/QoL instruments

In many studies, the DLQI was used in parallel with other instruments, some generic, some dermatology-specific and disease-specific measures. In this systematic review we captured correlations of the DLQI with PRO/QOL instruments reflecting its construct validity (or more specifically its convergent validity as shown in Table IV). The working definition of PRO/QoL is listed in the Appendix S1. Correlations with non-PRO or non-QoL measures e.g. severity scales were not included. Of 133 studies that published correlations, almost all were Spearman’s or Pearson’s with one Kendall’s tau correlation, one Wilcoxon test and 14 studies did not specify.

Table IV. Correlation of the DLQI with other PRO/QoL measures
References Country DLQI completed Disease Measure Methods Results COSMIN hypothesis
Herd 1997(90) United Kingdom 56 Atopic dermatitis Patient Generated Index (PGI) not stated Correlation between DLQI and PGI was –0.52 (P <0.001). For DLQI Q1 to 10 r= –0.36*, –0.51**, –0.39*, –0.42**, –0.40*, –0.27, –0.20, –0.19, –0.13, –0.32; * p <0.01, ** p <0.001 2*
Badia 1999(34) Spain 246 Eczema and psoriasis Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) Spearman’s Correlations between DLQI scores and NHP dimensions were low to moderate, ranging from 0·32 with the NHP mobility dimension to 0·12 with the energy dimension. 2
Kent 1999(91) United Kingdom 614 Vitiligo 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), (Perceived) Stigma Questionnaire (adaptation of Ginsberg and Link 1989, some items dropped, replaced “psoriasis” with “vitiligo”); Self Esteem (Rosenberg 1965)(92) not stated GHQ-12 r=0.40, p <0.001; Perceived stigma r=0.62 p <0.001; Self Esteem r=-0.45 p <0.001 2*
Mallon 1999(93) United Kingdom 111 Acne SF36 Pearson’s SF-36 dimensions Self-esteem -0.37, Role-emotional -0.46, Social function -0.69, Mental health -0.53, Energy/vitality -0.38, all p <0.001 2*
Lundberg 2000(94) Sweden 366 Psoriasis OR atopic dermatitis SF36 Spearman’s The Spearman’s correlation coefficients between the data of SF-36 and the DLQI showed significant correlations ranging between ± 0.15 and ± 0.41. 2
Williamson 2001(95) United Kingdom 70 Alopecia Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Spearman’s r= 0.62 (P <0.0001) 2*
Sampogna 2004(96) Italy 786 Psoriasis Skindex, Impact of Psoriasis Questionnaire (IPSO), Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI), Psoriasis Life Stress Inventory, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) Pearson’s: Correlation matrix of clinical severity, QOL & psychological distress instruments Skindex Social functioning r=0.723, Emotions r=0.633, Symptoms r=0.452; Impact of Psoriasis Questionnaire (IPSO) r=0.758; Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) r=0.805; Psoriasis Life Stress Inventory 0.627; General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) r=0.576. No p values given, Skindex
mostly 1
IPSO 1
PDI 1
PLSI 1
GHQ 2
Wittkowski 2004(97) United Kingdom 125 Atopic dermatitis Stigmatisation and Eczema Questionnaire (SEQ), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Pearson’s SEQ r=0.56 p <0.01, HADS anxiety r=0.32 p <0.05, HADS depression r=0.49 p <0.01, FNE r=0.27 p <0.01, RSE r=0.38 p <0.01 SEQ 2*
HADS-D 2*
FNE 2*
RSE 2*
Yazici 2004(98) Türkiye 61 Acne Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s HAD-A ( r = 0.485, P = 0.0001) and HAD-D ( r = 0.455, P = 0.0001) HADS 2*
Ilgen 2005(50) Türkiye 108 Acne Acne Quality of Life Scale (AQOLS) Spearman’s AQOLS and DLQI (r=0.466, p≤0.05). 2*
Ferraz 2006(36) Brazil 115 Multiple for reliability. See suppl data for full list. Lupus Erthematous for validity. SF36 Pearson’s The correlation coefficient between DLQI and each SF-36 component score were highly statistically significant (r= -0,30 to -0.56, p <0.001) 2*
Vilata 2008(99) Spain 247 Anogenital Condylomata Acuminata CECA (Specific Questionnaire for Condylomata Acuminata) Spearman’s Overall r=-0.670, Emotional dimension r=-0.546, Sexual activity dimension r=-0.676 1*
Aghaei 2009(56) Iran 125 Psoriasis Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) not specified r = 0.94 1*
Menter 2010(100) United States 96 Psoriasis Zung Self-rating Depression Scale Pearson’s Baseline: r= 0.5 p <0.0001; Score changes from baseline to wk12 r= 0.5 p <0.0001 2*
de Ue 2011(101) Brazil 62 Urticaria SF-36 Spearman’s r = 0.254 to -0.465 between the domains of the DLQI and those of the SF-36. 2
Goreshi 2011(102) United States 120 Dermatomyositis Skindex-29 Pearson’s Each Skindex-29 subscore significantly correlated with DLQI scores (Skindex-29 Symptom r=0.632, Skindex-29 Emotion r=0.674, Skindex-29 Function r=0.856; all p values<0.0001) 1*
Kluger 2011(103) France 18 Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome (facial fibrofolliculomas) Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) Spearman’s r=0.83 1
Lau 2011(104) Australia 119 Contact dermatitis ShortFormHealthSurvey (SF-36) Spearman’s SF-36 PCS 0.253 (p <0.01); MCS −0.298 (p <0.002)
Tadros 2011(105) Greece 80 Psoriasis Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) Spearman’s DLQI was significantly and positively correlated with FDLQI (Spearman r = 0.51, P <0.001) 1^
Fernandez-Penas 2012(31) Spain 144 Psoriasis Skindex-29 Spearman’s r ≥ 0.57 for DLQI total score and Skindex-29 subscales (0.73 symptoms, 0.73 emotions and 0.57 functioning, all p <0.01). Correlations of DLQI items and Skindex-29 subscales 0.37 to 0.73 (all p <0.01, n = 144) 1*
Ghajarzadeh 2012(106) Iran 300 Psoriasis, vitiligo, alopecia areata Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) Pearson’s All r=0.44 p <0.001. Significant correlation between DLQI and BDI in all groups: vitiligo (r=0.5, P <0.001), psoriasis (r=0.3, P=0.001), AA (r=0.34, p <0.001) 2*
Ghajarzadeh 2012(107) Iran 100 Alopecia Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) Pearson’s r=0.34 p value < 0.001 2*
Kimball 2012(108) United States 1212 Psoriasis Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire for Psoriasis (WPAI-Psoriasis) Pearson’s Correlation coefficients = 0.57, 0.58, 0.66, and 0.28 for TAI, TWPI, presenteeism, and absenteeism, respectively 1
Maksimovic 2012(58) Serbia 66 Atopic dermatitis SF36 Spearman’s Correlation coefficients between SF-36 and DLQI scales ranged between -0.26 and -0.38, most p <0.01. The highest correlations were seen between symptoms and feelings and daily activities (q = 0.75; P <0.01), symptoms and feelings and work ⁄school (q = 0.56; p <0.01), and leisure and work ⁄school (q =0.53; P <0.01) for subscales of the DLQI. 1*
Norlin 2012(109) Sweden 2191 Psoriasis EQ-5D Spearman’s r = 0.55, p <0.001 (n = 2091; adjusted R2 =0.28; Root Mean Square Error = 0.1989; Probability > F =0<0.0001) 1*
Yu 2012(110) Korea South 138 Eczema/Hand eczema Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI-II) scoring system Spearman’s BDI-II scores also had a positive correlation with DLQI score (p<0.05)
Bin Saif 2013(111) Saudi Arabia 141 Vitiligo Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) not stated r = 0.56, p <0.001 1*
Ghaderi 2013(112) Iran 70 Acne SF-36 Pearson’s r=-0.46 p <0.001; Physical functioning (PF) r= −0.20 p = 0.10; role physical (RP) r=-0.37 p = 0.002; role emotional (RE) r=-0.49 p <0.001; vitality (VT) r=-0.36 p = 0.002; mental health (MH) r=-0.19 p = 0.11; social functioning (SF) r=-0.21 p = 0.09; bodily pain (BP) r=-0.31 p = 0.009; general health (GH) r=-0.38 p = 0.001 2*
Lilly 2013(62) United States 90 Vitiligo Vitiligo-specific quality-of-life instrument (VitiQoL) Pearson’s total VitiQOL (0.832), Interpersonal (0.752), Emotion (0.842), Grooming (0.499), all p <0.05 1*
Lindberg 2013(113) Sweden 93 Eczema/Hand eczema EQ5D Spearman’s EQ5D-VAS (−0.62), and the EQ5D-index (−0.67) , both p <0.05 1*
Lockhart 2013(64) United Kingdom 85 Vulval intraepithelial neoplasia Vulval intraepithelial neoplasia questionnaire (VIN) not stated VIN questionnaire score was statistically significantly correlated with the DLQI (r = 0.69). VIN questions which related to symptoms and activities of daily life correlated strongly with the DLQI questionnaire, with correlations ranging from 0.45 to 0.62 2*
Rizwan 2013(114) United Kingdom 178 Photodermatoses Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), social anxiety using the Fear of Negative Evaluation measure (FNE), coping strategies (brief COPE) Pearson’s DLQI scores were significantly associated with anxiety (r = 0.28, p <0.01), depression (r = 0.41, p <0.01), adaptive (r = 0.31, p <0.01) and maladaptive (r = 0.3, p <0.01) coping strategies. HADS-D 2*, COPE adaptive 2*, maladaptive 2*
Strand 2013(115) United States 352 Psoriasis SF-36 Pearson’s Correlations between SF-36 scores and DLQI were moderate (r> 0.30 and ≤0.60) 2*
Stumpf 2013(116) Germany 284 Pruritus Frankfurt Body Concept Scales (Frankfurter Körperkonzeptskalen; FKKS) Pearson’s Total r=-0.295 p <0.02. DLQI showed negative correlations with all subscales (r=-0.184 to 0.379, all p <0.01) and SKKO (r=-0.131, p <0.05) except SDIS and SPKF
Tjokrowidjaja 2013(117) Australia 70 Bullous disease Treatment of Autoimmune Bullous Disease Quality of Life (TABQOL) not specified r = 0.64 2*
Vinding 2013(118) Denmark 177 Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Skin Cancer Quality of Life (SCQoL) Spearman’s SCQoL Total r=0.45, p <0.0001; SCQoL Function r=0.36, p <0.0001; SCQoL Emotions r=0.44, <0.0001; SCQoL Control r=0.36, <0.001 1*
Yano 2013(119) Japan 112 Atopic dermatitis Work productivity and activity impairment-specific health problem (WPAI-SHP) not specified WPAI total work productivity impairment [TWPI] n = 97 r=0.600 p <0.001; total activity impairment [TAI]) n = 112 r=0.637 p <0.001 2*
Bardazzi 2014(120) Italy 240 Psoriasis Psoriasis awareness among patients in Italy questionnaire Spearman’s Awareness was positively correlated with QoL as measured by DLQI: pathogenesis r=0.02 p = 0.768, diagnosis r=0.11 p = 0.099, clinical course r=0.18 p = 0.005, quality of life r=0.245 p = 0.245, whole scale r=0.13 p = 0.043
Doʇruk Kaçar 2014(121) Türkiye 38 Vitiligo Feeling of Stigmatization Questionnaire 33-item Kendall’s tau correlation r=0.548, p = 0.001 2*
Ghaderi 2014(122) Iran 70 Eczema/Hand eczema SF-36 Pearson’s Correlation with SF-36 domains between -0.226 and -0.442
Ghaderi 2014(123) Iran 70 Vitiligo SF-36 Pearson’s r=-0.472, p <0.001; PF, physical functioning r=-0.199 p = 0.099; RP, role physical r=-0.327 p = 0.006; RE, role emotional r=-0.324 p = 0.006; VT, vitality r=-0.349 p = 0.003; MH, mental health r=-0.365 p = 0.002; SF, social functioning r=-0.296 p = 0.013; BP, bodily pain r=-0.360 p = 0.002; GH, general health r=-0.347 p = 0.003 SF-36 2*
Hawro 2014(124) Poland 60 Psoriasis Basic hope inventory (BHI-12) Pearson’s r =-0.281; p = 0.030 3*
Herédi 2014(125) Hungary 200 Psoriasis EQ-5D score Spearman’s -0.48, p <0.05 2*
Susel 2014(126) Poland 200 Uremic pruritus 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) Spearman’s Significant negative correlation between SF-36 score and DLQI score in HD patients with UP (R = -0.29, p = 0.01)
Takahashi 2014(84) Japan 119 Psoriasis General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-30 Spearman’s GHQ-30 and DLQI (r = 0.487, P <0.01) 2*
Boza 2015(127) Brazil 74 Vitiligo Vitiligo-specific health-related quality of life instrument (VitiQol) Pearson’s r = 0.776, p <0.001 1*
Bruer 2015(128) Germany 84 Psoriasis Short Form Health Survey-8 (SF-8), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Shirom Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) Pearson’s SF-8 r = -0.603, p <0.001; PHQ-9 depression score r = 0.437, p <0.001; SMBM total r = 0.550, p <0.001; SMBM physical fatigue r = 0.521, p <0.001; SMBM cognitive weariness r = 0.359, p <0.001; SMBM emotional exhaustion r = 0.497, p <0.001 SF-8 2*
PHQ-9 2*
SMBM 2*
Chiang 2015(129) United Kingdom 105 Alopecia Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s HADS Total scores (r = 0.674, p <0.001; HADS-A (r = 0.519, p <0.001), HADS-D (r = 0.711, p <0.001) 2*
Durai 2015(130) India 140 Acne Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) Spearman’s r = 0.74 p <0.0001 1*
Heelan 2015(131) Canada 94 Bullous disease Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire- Specific Health Problem (WPAIQ-SHP) Spearman’s rs = −0.221, p = 0.032 (n = 94); bivariate correlations of subset of employed persons (n = 48) rs = −0.298, p = 0.040; total activity impairment subscale (TAI) rs = −0.329, p = 0.023 TAI 2*
Moradi 2015(132) Iran 71 Psoriasis EQ-5D Spearman’s EQ-5D and EQ VAS showed moderate negative correlations with DLQI (rs = -0.44 p <0.001) 2*
Schmitt 2015(133) Germany 201 Psoriasis Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) no specified DLQI scores were significantly correlated with presenteeism (r = 0.47; p <0.0001) and to a lesser degree also with absenteeism (r = 0.29; p <0.001) DLQI presenteeism 2*
Sung 2015(134) Korea South 66 Pemphigus General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) Spearman’s GHQ positivity was associated with a higher DLQI score (p<0.0001)
Tennvall 2015(135) Denmark 290 Acitinic keratosis Actinic Keratosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (AKQoL); EQ-5D-5; EQ-VAS Spearman’s AKQoL n = 283 r=0.52 (p <0.001); EQ-5D-5-L n = 273 r=−0.36 (p <0.001); EQ-VAS r=−0.21 (n = 282 <0.001) AKQoL 1*
EQ-5D-5L 2*
Catucci Boza 2016(136) Brazil 117 Vitiligo Vitiligo-specific quality-of-life instrument (VitiQoL) Spearman r = 0.81; p <0.001, r = 0.36 to 0.84 (all p <0.001) for domains 1*
Chernyshov 2016(68) Ukraine 126 Psoriasis and atopic dermatitis Skindex-16 Spearman’s atopic dermatitis r=0.66, p <0.001; psoriasis r=0.71, p <0.001 1*
Gawlik 2016(137) Poland 130 Psoriasis Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Spearman’s DLQI and HADS-A scores (r = 0.467; p <0.001) and between the DLQI and HADS-D scores (r = 0.569; p <0.001). 2*
Ko 2016(138) Taiwan 480 Psoriasis EQ5D and VAS not stated EQ-5D (r=0.416**, p <0.01) and VAS (r=0.369**, p <0.01) were significantly correlated with every dimension (p <0.01) of the DLQI. Sub-analysis for mild, moderate and severe groups 2*
Kong 2016(139) Korea South 50 Atopic dermatitis Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) Pearson’s r = 0.388, p = 0.04 2*
Kouris 2016(140) Greece 80 Psoriasis Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson ‘s Within the group of psoriasis patients was a higher quality of life impairment significantly correlated with higher anxiety (r=0.27; p = 0.02), higher loneliness and social isolation (r=0.54, p <0.001), and lower self-esteem (r=-0.48, p <0.001).
Maranzatto 2016(141) Brazil 154 Melasma Melasma Quality of Life Scale (MELASQoL) Spearman’s r=0.70 (p <0.01) 1*
Salman 2016(142) Türkiye 148 Vitiligo and acne patients with facial involvement Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s Vitiligo: LSAS r=0.511 p <0.05; HADS r=0.574, p <0.05. Acne: LSAS r=0.478 p <0.05; HADS r=0.401, p <0.05 LSAS 2*
HADS 2*
Sarhan 2016(143) Egypt 75 Vitiligo Arabic Version of the Female Sexual Functioning Index (AVFSFI) Pearson’s DLQI score was significantly correlated with AVFGSIS alone and with AVFSFI alone and with both AVFGSIS and AVFSFI (p <0 .01)
Alarcon 2017(144) Spain 100 Acitinic keratosis Actinic Keratosis Quality of Life (AKQoL) Spearman’s Total score r=0.87; Function r=0.75; Emotions r=0.78; Control r=0.75; Global item r=0.76 1*
Augustin 2017(145) Multiple 340 Psoriasis Patient Benefit Index (PBI) Spearman’s rank correlation r=-0.29 p <0.001 (week 4) to r=-0.49 p <0.001 (week52, LOCF, last observation carried forward)) 2*
Březinová 2017(146) Czech Republic 128 Atopic dermatitis Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ), Family Dermatolology Life Quality Index (FDLQI), not stated B-IPQ r=0.42, p <0.001; FDLQI r=0.52, p <0.001 B-IPQ 2*
FDLQI 1*
Catucci Boza 2016(136) Brazil 93 Vitiligo Vitiligo-specific quality-of-life instrument (VitiQoL) Spearman’s r= 0.81; p <0.001 1*
Janse 2017(147) Netherlands 300 Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Psoriasis Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) Pearson’s r = -0.20, P =0.003
Masaki 2017(148) Japan 133 Psoriasis EQ-5D Pearson’s R=-0.472 2
Michelsen 2017(149) Norway 141 Psoriatic arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease (RAID) Spearman’s ρ = 0.32, p <0.001 2*
Müller 2017(150) Germany 172 nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) EORTC Questionnaire - Cancer (QLQ-C30) Spearman’s The DLQI total score was significantly associated with all functioning and symptom scales of the QLQ-C30, ranging from r (s) = 0.16 to 0.49.
Xu 2017(151) Korea South 364 See supplementary data for full list Skindex-29, SF-36 Spearman’s Skindex-29: psoriasis r=0.794, vitiligo r=-0.677; SF-36: psoriasis r=--0.703, vitiligo r=-0.532, all p <0.01 Skindex-29 1*
SF-36 2*
Yfantopoulos 2017(152) Greece 396 Psoriasis EQ-5D3L, EQ-5D-5L Spearman’s Correlations between EQ-5D dimensions and the DLQI sum score were all significant at least at α = 5%, with higher DLQI scores being associated with more problems on the EQ-5D scale. On average, the EQ-5D-5L items were stronger correlated with the DLQI sum score (mean q5L = 0.210 vs. q3L = 0.192, p = 0.039 based on a paired t test).
Cozzani 2018(71) Italy 50 Psoriasis and Psoriatic arthritis PSOdisk Pearson’s not given
Hassanin 2018(153) Egypt 100 chronic skin disease (on the genitalia or exposed areas) Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) Spearman’s and Pearson’s (unspecified) Excluding the pain domain (R: −0.16 and P: 0.12), the DLQI score was significantly negatively correlated with all sex domain scores and the total FSFI score. The R values were: −0.35, −0.48, −0.29, −0.44, −0.56, and−0.48 for desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and total scores, respectively; and the P values were: 0.003 for lubrication and < 0.001 for all other scores. 2*
Kluger 2018(154) Finland 26 Psoriasis 15D HRQoL questionnaire (15D), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and the Beck Depression Inventory-21 (BDI-21) Spearman’s The 15D score negatively correlated with the DLQI score (r = -0.492; p = 0.011) and the BDI-21 score (r = -0.592; p = 0.001) 15D 2*
BDI-21 2*
Morice-Picard 2018(155) France 40 Albinism SF-36 and Burden of Albinism questionnaire (BoA) Pearson’s SF-36 (n = 40)-PCS r=−0.56 p <0.002; SF-36 MCS r= −0.9 p <0.0013; Burden of Albinism questionnaire (BoA) Global score r= 0.68 p <0.0001 SF-36 2*
BoA 1*
Tekin 2018(156) Türkiye 131 Psoriasis Anxiety and Depression Scale HAD-A, HAD-D, Type D Personality Scale (DS-14) and subscales: Negative Affectivity (NA) and Social Inhibition (SI) Pearson’s Correlations HAD-A 0.612, HAD-D 0.471, DS-14 0.494, subscales: NA 0.412, SI 0.501, PASI 0.360. All p <0.01 HADS 2*
DS-14 2*
SI 2*
Vakharia 2018(157) United States 210 Atopic dermatitis ItchyQoL Spearman’s DLQI, ItchyQoL and 5-D itch scale all significantly correlated with each other, ranging from 0.36-0.73 (P <0.0001). 1*
Wang 2018(158) Australia 61 Bullous disease Specific Health Problem (WPAIQ-SHP) Spearman’s WPAIQ-SHP Presenteeism rs = 0.90, P = 0.00001; Total work productivity impairment rs = 0.88, P = 0.000035; Total activity impairment rs = 0.47, P = 0.00048 2*
Wu 2018(159) China 397 Rosacea Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s Total DLQI score of patients of patients with rosacea was positively related with anxiety (r = 0.526, p <.001) and depression scores (r = .399, p <.001) in HADS. 2*
Albuquerque 2019(160) Brazil 104 Leprosy SF-36 Spearman. Total and correlation between all DLQI and SF36 items r = -0.58, p <0,01 2*
Arents 2019(161) Multiple 1189 Atopic dermatitis Atopic Eczema Score of Emotional Consequences (AESEC), HADS Anxiety and Depression Scale-D7 Spearman’s ρ AESEC (0.546, p <0.001, 95%CI =0.505, 0.585), HADS-D7 (ρ=0.461 p <0.001), 95%CI=0.414, 0.505) AESEC 1*
HADS-D7 2*
Kalboussi 2019(162) Tunisia 150 Contact dermatitis Work Productivity and Activity Impairment: Allergy Specific (WPAI:AS) Questionnaire Pearson’s The DLQI score was significantly associated with atopy (p = 0.03), relapses strictly greater than 10 (p = 0.02), presenteeism (p <10−3), overall work productivity loss (p = 0.01), and daily activity impairment (p = 0.03)
Le 2019(163) Vietnam 136 Eczema/Hand eczema EQ5D Spearman’s r=-0.73 2*
Narang 2019(164) India 179 Superficial cutaneous dermatophytosis General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) Spearman’s r = 0.30; P <0.05 2*
Patro 2019(165) India 294 Superficial dermatophytic infection 5Dpruritus scale Pearson’s r=0.802 p <0.0001 1*
Satti 2019(76) Pakistan 173 Uremic pruritus Public Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Spearman’s r=0.69, p = 0.01 2*
Stefanidou 2019(166) Greece 103 Pruritus SF-6D Spearman’s rho = − 0.617, p <0.001 2*
Temel 2019(78) Türkiye 150 Acne vulgaris (AV) or vitiligo, or alopecia areata (AA) Internalized Stigma Scale (ISS) not specified Acne: ISS and DLQI (r = 0.596, P <0.001); Vitiligo:ISS and DLQI (r = 0.540, P <0.001) ; Alopecia areata:ISS and DLQI (r = 0.508, P <0.001) 2*
Zeidler 2019(167) Multiple 535 See supplementary data for full list ItchyQoL Pearson’s r = 0.72. P = 0.001 1*
Demirci 2020(79) Türkiye 100 Psoriasis Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s DLQI scores were significantly and positively correlated with HADS anxiety scores (r=0.205, P <0.05), depression scores (r= 0.269, P <0.01)
Gerdes 2020(168) Germany 538 Psoriasis Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) Wilcoxon test The correlation of DLQI and BDI-II scores was highly significant (p <0.0001)
Namdar 2020(169) Türkiye 71 Psoriasis Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Beck’s Depression Scale, Beck’s Anxiety Scale Spearman’s DLQI score of psoriasis patients and anxiety (r=0.342 P <0.001), depression (r=0.327 P=0.006), alexithymia (r=0.341 P=0.004), and PASI scores (r=0.389 P=0.001) All 2*
Oosterhaven 2020(170) Netherlands 294 Eczema/Hand eczema Quality of Life in Hand Eczema Questionnaire (QOLHEQ) Pearson’s r=0.77, no p value given 1
Passlov 2020(171) Sweden 21 Eczema/Hand eczema Activities of daily living (ADL) Spearman’s rho = 0.72, p = 0.00022 2*
Silpa-archa 2020(172) Thailand 104 Vitiligo Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Pearson’s r= 0.524, p <0.001 2*
Stepien 2020(173) Poland 240 Pruritus 12-Item Pruritus Severity Scale (12-PSS) Spearman’s p = 0.54 1*
Tawil 2020(174) Lebanon 152 Urticaria Arabic Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU-Q2oL) Pearson’s r = 0.86 p <0.001. Correlations between each corresponding domain of the CU-Q2oL and the DLQI were found to be moderate to strong (≥ 0.5, p<0.001). 1*
Acar 2021(175) Türkiye 200 Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) in rosacea Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) Spearman’s correlation r=0.39; p = 0.017
Bakar 2021(176) Malaysia 174 Psoriasis Malay Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s There is positive correlation between HADS-D and DLQI (r = 0.421, p-value <0.001) and between HADS-A and DLQI (r = 0.465, p-value <0.001). 2*
Barbieri 2021(177) United States 764 Atopic dermatitis DLQI-R and SF-12 Spearman’s DLQI-R scoring modification had stronger correlation with the SF-12 Physical Health Score p = 0.02) and SF-12 Mental Health Score (−0.44 vs −0.41, Steiger’s Z p <0.001) (−0.09 vs −0.07, Steiger’s Z p = 0.02) 2*
Chaudhary 2021(178) India 35 Leprosy Stigma Assessment and Reduction of Impact (SARI) scale v.1.1 Spearman’s r = - 0.272, p = 0.113
Emre 2021(179) Türkiye 105 Urticaria Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) Spearman’s r =0.073
Erol 2021(180) Türkiye 105 Urticaria Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) unspecified r = 0.302, P = 0.002 2*
Esposito 2021(181) Italy 105 Psoriasis and Psoriatic arthritis Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) not stated SDS and the DLQI were strongly correlated (r = 0.71, p <0.001) SDS 2*
Ferrucci 2021(182) Italy 300 Atopic dermatitis Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Pearson’s HADS depression r = 0.49, p <0.01; HADS anxiety r = 0.47, p <0.01 2*
Gundogdu 2021(183) Türkiye 51 Psoriasis Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) Spearman’s r = 0.641 P = 0.000 1*
Kirby 2021(184) United States 441 Hidradenitis Suppuratvia Patient global assessment (PtGA) for hidradenitis suppurativa Spearman’s r = 0.78, 95% CI 0.74-0.82 1*
Kurhan 2021(185) Türkiye 129 Contact dermatitis Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS), HADS Pearson’s SAAS r=0.060, no sig., HADS-A r=0.263 p <0.01, HADS-D r=0.006 not sig. SAAS 2*
Morioke 2021(186) Japan 48 Recurrent angiodema Angioedema Quality of Life Questionnaire (AE-QoL) Spearman’s Total AE-QoL r=0.631, p <0.001; Changes in DLQI (delta DLQI) score and those in AE-QoL scores were positively correlated r =0.48, p <0.001 1*
Pollo 2021(82) Brazil 281 Psoriasis Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Spearman’s HADS-A r=0.40 p <0.05; HADS-D- r=0.40 p <0.05 2*
Segal 2021(187) Israel 58 Pemphigus Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) Pearson’s Several IP variables (timeline cyclical 0.30 p <0.05, treatment control 0,26 p <0.05, emotional representations 0.31 p <0.05, psychological attributions 0.37 p <0.01) showed correlation with DLQI, and no such correlation was found for Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). 2*
Silverberg 2021(188) United States 458 Atopic dermatitis Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ9) & abridged version (PHQ-2) Spearman’s PHQ-9 was strongly correlated with DLQI (r=0.50) and PHQ-2 (r=0.48) and change in DLQI with change in PHQ9 (r=0.42) and PHQ-2 (r=0.33), p <0.001 for all PHQ-9 2*
PHQ-2 2*
Singh 2021(189) India 1392 Acne Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) Spearman’s r=0.71 1
Solmaz 2021(190) Türkiye 306 Psoriasis Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) Spearman’s DLQI scores and IPQ-R subscales of Illness identity (r = 0.420) and Consequences (r = 0.408, p<0.001), Personal attributions (r = 0.277), Chance factor (r = 0.222), and External attributions (r = 0.212, p<0.001). IPQ-R Illness Identity and Conseq. 2*
Talamonti 2021(191) Italy 174 Atopic dermatitis Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) Pearson’s BDI r=0.306 (p = 0.001); TAS-20 r=0.1874 (p = 0.040) BDI 2*
Zhao 2021(192) China 182 Vitiligo Vitiligo specific quality of life instrument (VitiQoL) method not specified r= 0.70 (P <0.01) 1*
Aminizadeh 2022(193) Iran 200 Any skin disease Skindex-29 Spearman’s r=0.719, subscales Skindex-29, r from 0.24 to 0.71, P <0.01) Overall
Skindex-29 1*
Benny 2022(194) India 69 Vitiligo General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) Spearman’s r = 0.54 (P <0.001) 2*
Ito 2022(195) Japan 400 Alopecia Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), SF36v2 not stated HADS-A r=0.42, HADS-D r=0.47, both p <0.01. SF36: PF, physical functioning -0.34, RP, role physical -0.47, BP, bodily pain -0.27, GH, general health -0.30, VT, vitality -0.28, SF, social functioning -0.43, RE, role emotional -0.48, MH, mental health -0.41, all p <0.01 HADS 2*
SF-36 all except pain and vitality 2*
Koszoru 2023(196) Hungary 218 Atopic dermatitis Skindex-16, EQ-5D-5L, EQ VAS (0-100) Spearman’s Total score r=0.839; Symptoms subscale r=0.730; Emotions subscale r=0.697; Functioning subscale r=0.827; EQ-5D-5L (r= −0.848 to 1) Total r=−0.731; EQ VAS r=−0.598; all p <0.05 1*
Nahidi 2022(197) Iran 80 Psoriasis Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) Spearman’s Meaningful relationship was noted between the quality of life of patients and their spouses (r = 0.48, P = 0.001) 1*
Saeki 2022(198) Japan 73 Psoriasis Work Productivity and Activity Impairment- Psoriasis (WPAI- PSO) Partial Spearman correlation coefficient ([ρ]; In the adjusted model, the WPL score correlated with the DLQI ρ = 0.608, p <0.0001. The presenteeism score correlated with the DLQI ρ = 0.568 p <0.0001. activity impairment score correlated with the DLQI ρ = 0.530, p <0.0001 2*
Tan 2022(30) Multiple 723 Acne The Facial Acne Scar Quality of Life (FASQoL); Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ) Pearson’s significant correlation between DLQI and FASQoL scores (r = 0.683; P <0.001). DCQ score moderately correlated with DLQI (r = 0.47; P <0.001) FASQoL 2*
DCQ 1*
Tee 2022(199) Malaysia 30 Pemphigus Autoimmune Bullous Disease Quality of Life (ABQOL), Spearman’s DLQI correlated positively with ABQOL (r = 0.84, p <0.001) 1*
Tuchinda 2022(200) Thailand 130 Chronic urticaria or eczema 5-D itch scale Spearman’s all r = 0.76, p <0.0001, (CI 0.62-0.82); chronic urticaria r= 0.76 p <0.0001 (CI 0.63-0.85); eczema r=0.72 p <0.0001 (CI 0.58-0.81) 1*
Xavier 2022(201) Brazil 397 Skin picking disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment Scale (GAD-7) Pearson’s r = 0.73 2
Yang 2022(202) Taiwan 143 Vitiligo SF36 Spearman’s PF, physical function r=−0.079 p = 0.351 ; RP, role limitation related to physical problems r=−0.173 p = 0.039; BP, bodily pain r=−0.134 p = 0.112; GH, general health r=−0.280 p = 0.001; SF, social functioning −0.284 p = 0.001; VT, vitality r=−0.331 p <0.001; RE, role limitation related to emotional problems r=−0.289 p <0.001; MH, mental health r=−0.466 p <0.001
Ye 2022(203) Korea South 500 Urticaria EQ-5D Pearson’s r = -0.545 p <0.001 2*
Zhao 2022(204) China 325 Urticaria Chronic urticaria quality of life questionnaire (CU-Q2oL) Spearman’s r = 0.769, p <0.001 1*
Koszoru 2023(205) Hungary 218 Atopic dermatitis EQ5D, Skindex-16 Spearman’s EQ-5D-3L rs = 0.267 to 0.570 by EQ5D item; EQ-5D-5L rs = 0.354 to 0.670 by EQ5D item; EQ-5D-3L index rs = −0.669; EQ-5D-5L rs =− 0.731; Skindex-16 rs= − 0.622 EQ-5D-3L 2*
EQ-5D-5L 2*
EQ-5D Index 2*
Skindex-16 1*
Data in this table was extracted from the referenced publications.
COSMIN generic hypotheses taken from Table 4 Generic hypotheses to evaluate construct validity and responsiveness (17). Number indicates hypothesis level was supported by correlation, and a * significance at p <0.05.
1. Correlations with (changes in) instruments measuring similar constructs should be ≥ 0.50,
2. Correlations with (changes in) instruments measuring related, but dissimilar constructs should be lower, i.e., 0.30–0.50,
3. Correlations with (changes in) instruments measuring unrelated constructs should be < 0.30,
4. Correlations with (changes in) instruments measuring similar constructs should differ by a minimum of 0.10 from correlations, with (changes in) instruments measuring related but dissimilar constructs,
5. Correlations with (changes in) instruments measuring related but dissimilar constructs should differ by a minimum of 0.10 from correlations with (changes in) instruments measuring unrelated constructs,
6. Meaningful changes between relevant (sub)groups (e.g., patients with expected high versus low levels of the construct of interest). * indicates statistically significant correlation at p <0.05.

Studies assessing the Differential Item Functioning (DIF) of the Dermatology Life Quality Index

Limited or no DIF was observed over gender or age, but many studies found DIF in some items (Table SID), as is generally found in most health-related QoL measures (29). Significantly, the study of Tan 2022 (30) reported that no significant differences were observed in DLQI scores in 723 acne patients across six countries in Europe, north America and Brazil.

Translations and cross-cultural adaptations

Thirteen publications that addressed validation of translations and cross-cultural adpatations included adaptation to 11 languages from the original English version, one illustrated version, and one considering dimensionality across language versions were included in this study (Table SI(€)).

Appraisal of representation of minorities ethnic participants.

The results of analysis of patients included in studies by Naicker’s Critically Appraisal Tool are shown in Table V.

Table V. Data from Naicker’s Critically Appraising for Antiracism Tool
Question Yes No Unclear N/A Total
Were minoritised ethnic participants recruited 31 (15%) 3 (1.4%) 172 (83.1%) 1 (0.5%) 207 (100%)
Were minoritised ethnic participants representative? 15 (7.2%) 1 (0.5%) 189 (93.1%) 2 (1%) 207 (100%)
Were results data stratified by race/ethnicity and if so, was this justified/appropriate/explained by the author? 8 (3.9%) 199 (96.1%) 0 (0%) 0 (1%) 207 (100%)
Were any differences in study outcomes for minoritised ethnic populations appropriately addressed and interpreted? 6 (2.9%) 201 (97.1%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 207 (100%)
Did researchers avoid assigning race as a variable, a risk factor or a proxy for genetic ancestry? 1 (0.5%) 1 (0.5%) 4 (1.9%) 201 (97.1%) 207 (100%)
Naicker, R (2022) (23) Critically Appraising for Antiracism Tool. Available at: https://www.criticallyappraisingantiracism.org/.

Risk of bias

Data for the COSMIN criteria for good measurement properties are given in the Appendix S1 and individual COSMIN ratings are given in the last column of most tables.

Floor and ceiling effects

Two studies reported floor effects (31, 32), one study reported neither (33) and none reported ceiling effects.

Dermatology Life Quality Scores

There were 152 datasets for patients with a dermatological diagnosis where mean DLQI was reported. Additionally, six datasets were reported from healthy control groups (1, 34, 35, 143, 159). More details are given in Table SI(F).

Interpretability or clinical meaningfulness of the scores

The clinical meaningfulness of the DLQI is interpreted using validated score bands with band 0 DLQI scores 0–1 no effect on patient’s life, band 1 DLQI scores 2–5 small effect on patient’s life, band 2 DLQI scores 6–10 moderate effect on patient’s life, band 3 DLQI scores 11–20 very large effect on patient’s life, band 4 DLQI scores 21–30 extremely large effect on patient’s life (206). Narang et al. (164) interpreted their data using banding of the DLQI scores accordingly, and found that superficial cutaneous dermatophytosis had a small effect on the QoL of 41.3% of patients (band 2–5), while it caused an extremely large effect in the lives of 23.9% patients (band 21–30). Shakiar et al. 2006 (53) derived estimates of the MID of the DLQI using both the PASI and the Physician Global Assessment (PGA), as well as two distributional approaches to derive estimates of the MID of the DLQI. Their estimates ranged from 2.33–6.95, but they considered the PASI 50 is too conservative for estimating the minimum change that was beneficial to patients. Further information determining estimates of MID of the DLQI is reported by Basra et al. (85).

DISCUSSION

This systematic review compiles data from 207 peer reviewed studies describing research on 58,828 patients across 49 different countries on the validation of the DLQI over the 27 years of its global use. In contrast, the previous (non-systematic) review (7) of DLQI validation reported on only 115 studies, some of which were not published in English. Others were not full peer-reviewed papers.

The DLQI demonstrated strong test–retest reliability, assessed over 13 studies, reassuring researchers that completion is non-random and consistent. In 43 studies good internal consistency was confirmed, informing researchers of high correlation among the DLQI item scores. Furthermore, the DLQI score change in longitudinal design has been demonstrated in vast numbers of studies, including in randomised controlled trials (2). In addition, this review identified 12 studies performed using anchors to assess change responsiveness, with a range of effect sizes from small to large. Significant responsiveness by ANOVA and Wilcoxon 2-sample (paired) analysis was also demonstrated. Researchers can be confident of the DLQI responding appropriately to change. Concerning responsiveness of the DLQI, patients’ feelings about and perception of their skin disease may change less rapidly than the physical state of their disease. The psychosocial impact of skin disease may persist despite improvement in the disease.

Known-groups validity (207) was tested in 42 studies: such evidence is essential to provide confidence in the construct and use of a measure. The DLQI demonstrates this over a wide variety of groups, including disease severity, anxiety, depression, stigma, scarring, well-being, sexual function, disease location, disease duration and race. Correlation of the DLQI with other 119 different PRO/QoL measures in 207 studies were found in our current review, and demonstrated a range of correlations with other measures, adding to DLQI construct validation. This wide range reflected differences between the DLQI construct and that of comparator measures.

There are currently more than 138 DLQI language translations (208), all based on the original English language measure. Multiple publications demonstrate widespread DLQI use across many of these languages. Translations are all validated by independent forward and backward translations, checked by Cardiff University. Many have been fully culturally validated. This review found twelve publications that investigated DLQI translation validation and cross-cultural adaptations.

Factor analysis or item response theory was used to examine the dimensionality of the DLQI in 28 studies. These reached different conclusions, identifying from one to four factors. Generally studies with too few data did not find unidimensionality (found multiple factors), while the majority of those with sufficient data (N> 250) for these analyses, located only a single factor, supporting the unidimensionality of the DLQI. The exception was an Italian translation (51) and some Chinese translations (67, 74), where there may be some cross-cultural translation issues. Even with a 20:1 subject to item ratio (giving n = 200 for the DLQI), error rates may be well above alpha = 0.05 level (209). In contrast, the concept of DLQI score descriptor bands (206) transformed the DLQI into a useful clinical outcome assessment tool, informing clinical decisions. The DLQI score descriptor bands have informed a quality of life parameter incorporated in a wider definition of current psoriasis severity (210). Score banding, combined with knowledge of the DLQI Minimal Clinically Important Difference (85), allows appropriate and simple score interpretation.

Validation methodology continues to change, with many new methods, stricter criteria for acceptance of validation models, and new reporting of model fit criteria. COSMIN (211) is a standardized framework used to evaluate the quality of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). COSMIN includes guidelines and criteria for evaluating reliability, validity, and responsiveness of PROMs, as well as the quality of studies using them (17, 212). The FDA Guidance for Industry Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (213) requires comprehensive validation studies, covering all aspects of validation (validity, accuracy and reliability), including classical test theory, item response theory and clinical meaning. These high standards of reporting (17, 213) are relatively recent, and adoption of such rigorous methodology has been slow.

There is no absolute definition of what range of assessments should contribute to “validation”. Assessments, not normally considered, may be important, for example, whether PROM responses are influenced by frequency or number of times used in a subject (214). Face validity, the sense of a measure making sense to subjects, is clearly important but seldom reported. Perhaps very wide acceptance and use of a measure is itself an aspect of validation: “validation through widespread use”, standing the test of time. This concept applies Darwinian evolutionary theory to validation: a measure not fit for purpose may be soon forgotten, whereas a very popular measure likely has some positive characteristics leading to its widespread adoption, including some not focused on by PROM scientists (215).

Most studies reviewed had limited datasets, often with low participant numbers, validation lacked completeness and good metrics for analyses particularly in model goodness of fit and were therefore rated poorly using COSMIN guidelines (17). Studies often lacked reporting measurement error. Many studies used translated versions of the DLQI, complicating consideration of construct validity. There was a lack of a priori hypotheses associated with statistical tests, and little interpretation on the basis of hypotheses. Some other dermatology measures have poor developmental methodological quality, quality assessment of results, content validity and poor methodological quality of measurement properties (216). Few have complete coverage at domain level. Most, including the DLQI, were classed as Category B and can be recommended for use pending further validation (216). However, the body of validation of the DLQI as revealed by this systematic review gives stronger support for the underlying psychometric properties of the DLQI.

Although test–retest and internal consistency reliability, responsiveness, correlation with other measures and known group analysis provided a wealth of positively supportive data for the validity of the DLQI, further validation data is desired for factor structure (unidimensionality), responsiveness to change over time (longitudinal studies with effect sizes) and DIF, conducted with larger datasets and better metrics. Additionally, item response theory models using large data sets should investigate item fit using Rasch (infit and outfit) and graded response models, Chi-square statistics, and local dependencies, and compare responses across different language adaptations using t-scored data. This could also provide a calibration for the DLQI based on the original English-language construct, and cross-walks translation of sum scores to t-scores.

It is difficult to assess validity differences across diseases, as studies either focused on specific diseases or included any relevant diseases that patients presented with. Usually when multiple disease were included, sub-analysis was not performed, probably because the dataset sizes were too small for all but the most common diseases. Interpretation of results is also problematic, as a-priori hypothesis of whether one disease would be expected to have higher or lower DLQI scoring depends as much on individual severity as on the disease, making the framework multifactorial. Differential item functioning (DIF) using item response theory (IRT) would be a useful approach, but no studies undertook this.

Only 15% of studies explicitly recruited minority ethnic participants, with recruitment strategy unclear in 83.1%. Usually, it was not clear whether the recruitment ethnic mix was representative of the populations studied. Only 3.9% of study reports justified or appropriately explained results stratified by race/ethnicity. Differences in study outcomes for minority ethnic populations were appropriately addressed and interpreted in only 2.9% of studies. It is important to publish data on subjects’ ethnicity as many dermatological conditions are affected by race and skin color (217–219). Possibly most validation methods are not affected by a minority representation within a dataset, but only purposefully designed studies and methods such as DIF can reveal the relevance of such an effect. Rather than there being bias in validation studies, there is a lack of datasets with sufficient minority representation and appropriate methods to differentiate outcomes. An exemplary treatment of race and ethnicity was by Nagpal et al. (220) who discussed comparisons between racial/ethnic groups in detail. The study by Tan et al. (30) on the impact of facial atrophic acne scars on QoL, assessed “ethnicity” indirectly (but possibly inappropriately) (221) and observed no significant differences in DLQI scores between countries.

Strengths of this review include the large number of relevant articles identified, and the provision of direct access to previously scattered information. Limitations include: only English language articles being reviewed, though often reporting on validation using different DLQI translations; and because of the very broad set of concepts relevant to validation, we cannot be certain that all articles describing aspects of DLQI validation were identified. An alternate more complicated scoring system for the DLQI has been proposed, taking into account the influence of items scored “not relevant” (222), but this scoring method was not included as a search term in this systematic review.”

Future validation studies should use modern, accepted psychometric methods and appropriate metrics of fit for models used. They should also use reliable anchors for known groups (i.e. anchors that show good correlation with the DLQI) and improve responsiveness analyses. These methods and metrics are clearly outlined in the COSMIN guidelines (17,211). IRT studies with sufficiently large datasets are also required.

In conclusion this systematic review has brought together a wide range of data to illustrate current knowledge concerning validation of the DLQI. This review confirms many strengths of the DLQI and identifies areas for which further validation studies would be useful.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank Dr. R K Singh for her contribution to the planning of this systematic review.

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