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Background: Hand eczema severity index (HECSI) is a widely used tool for assessment of hand eczema (HE) severity. Generally, HECSI has been used by health care providers, and a validation of the HECSI tool when used by patients is lacking. Objectives: To evaluate the construct validity and reliability of HECSI as a tool for patients based on comparison to HECSI assessments by physicians. Methods: Patients with HE, enrolled from the dermatological outpatient clinic, Bispebjerg Hospital, assessed HE severity with a patient version of HECSI (patient‐HECSI). Afterwards, HECSI was assessed by a trained physician (physician‐HECSI). Results: This study found a strong correlation and very good absolute agreement between patient‐HECSI and physician‐HECSI assessments with a correlation coefficient of 0.756 and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.844. Cronbach's alpha was 0.861 indicating very good internal consistency. Conclusion: With a strong construct validity and reliability, the patient‐HECSI may be used by patients as a patient‐reported outcome assessing their personal HE severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low‐flow malformations (LFMs) are rare diseases with a significant impact on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), especially in children. No disease‐specific questionnaire is available for children with LFMs. Objective: To develop and validate a specific HRQoL questionnaire for children from 11 to 15 years old suffering from LFMs. Methods: A preliminary questionnaire based on a verbatim from focus groups was created and sent to children from 11 to 15 years old suffering from LFMs, together with a dermatology‐specific and a generic HRQoL questionnaire (cDLQI and EQ‐5D‐Y). Results: A total of 75 from 201 included children responded to the questionnaires. The final version of the questionnaire (cLFM‐QoL) included 15 questions and was not divisible into subscales. It demonstrated excellent internal consistency (cronbach 0.89), convergent validity and readability (SMOG 6.04). cLFM‐QoL mean score (± SD) was 12.9/45 (8.03) for all grades of severity, for mild 8.22/45 (7.5), moderate 14.03/45 (8.35), severe 12.35/45 (6.59) or very severe patients 20.7/45 (3.39) (p 0.006). Conclusion: cLFM‐QoL is a validated short and easy to use specific questionnaire with excellent psychometric capacities. It will be suitable for any children aged 11–15 with LFMs, in daily practice or clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The skin plays an important role in establishing interpersonal relationships, and thus visible skin disorders, which have a significant impact on physical appearance, influence other people's behaviours and attitudes. Objective: To develop and validate a dermatologic‐specific questionnaire to evaluate stigmatization in individuals with visible skin conditions. Methods: Items were generated by a verbatim report based on qualitative interviews with patients with various dermatologic conditions. Subsequently, a study was implemented for psychometric analysis. A dermatology‐specific stigmatization questionnaire (PUSH‐D) was refined via item reduction according to inter‐question correlations, consensus among experts and exploratory factor analysis. Internal consistency was determined by calculating Cronbach's α. Concurrent validity was determined by calculating the correlation between PUSH‐D and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (RSES). Results: From a primary list of 22 items, PUSH‐D was reduced to a 17‐item questionnaire, covering two pertinent dimensions based on the exploratory factor analysis. Construct validity was demonstrated, and PUSH‐D showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.9). PUSH‐D correlated strongly with the DLQI 0.72 (p < 0.001) and moderately with the RSES 0.49 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: PUSH‐D allows a comprehensive view of the degree of stigmatization in visible skin disorders, as well as the comparability of stigmatization levels across various skin conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The assessment of the individual evolution of vitiligo is important for therapeutic decision making in daily practice. A fast, simple and validated physician‐reported score to assess clinical changes in depigmentation over time in separate parts (activity and improvement) is currently missing. Objective: The main objective of the study was to develop and validate the Vitiligo Disease Activity Score (VDAS) and Vitiligo Disease Improvement Score (VDIS). Methods: The Vitiligo Disease Activity Score (VDAS) and Vitiligo Disease Improvement Score (VDIS) were evaluated based on a photo set of 66 patients with two different time points. In the first (short) version, only the number of changing body regions was counted based on 15 predefined areas (VDAS15 and VDIS15), while in the second (extensive) version the degree of worsening or improvement from +4 to −4 for each body area was added for a more detailed assessment (VDAS60 and VDIS60). Content and construct validity were tested. In addition inter‐, intrarater reliability and feasibility were evaluated by 7 (test) and 5 (retest) physicians. Results: Evidence for content and construct validity was provided. Overall, VDAS15, VDIS15, VDAS60 and VDIS60 demonstrated good to excellent inter‐rater reliability [intraclass correlation (ICC): VDAS: range = 0.797–0.900; VDIS: range = 0.726–0.798]. The intrarater reliability ICCs were 0.865 and 0.781 for the VDAS15 and VDIS15, respectively. Similar results were obtained for the VDAS60 and VDIS60 (ICC = 0.913 and 0.800, respectively). Completion time was short (median: 122 s/patient (first round); 95 s/patient (second round)]. Limitations: Single tertiary centre mainly of skin phototype 2 to 3. Conclusion: The VDAS and VDIS appear to be valid, reliable and feasible instruments to score the evolution of vitiligo lesions. This accommodates the current urgent need for a simple, standardized and practical assessment of vitiligo activity and improvement over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vitiligo management is challenging and requires long‐term adherence of patients who often complain of the burden associated with treatment. Objective: To develop and validate a patient reported measurement of the burden of treatment in vitiligo. Methods: The study was nested within the ComPaRe Vitiligo e‐cohort, an online e‐cohort of vitiligo patients in France. Items were derived from a literature review and from the qualitative analysis of a survey using open‐ended questions of 204 patients with Vitiligo. Construct validity of the resulting instrument was assessed by comparing the instrument's score to the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Vitiligo Impact Patient score (VIPs) and Treatment Burden Questionnaire (TBQ) scores. Reliability was assessed by test‐retest with 15 ± 10 days of interval between both assessments. Results: In total, 343 adult participants participated in the validation of the Vitiligo Treatment Impact score (VITs). The VITs is a 19‐item questionnaire assessing the burden of treatment in patients with vitiligo with results suggesting four domains ('Finding a doctor', 'Phototherapy', 'Topical treatment' and 'Impact on outdoor activities and photoprotection'). The VITs total score was well correlated with the DLQI, VIP and TBQ scores. Agreement between test and retest was good (ICC 0.705, 95% CI 0.491–0.818). Conclusions: We developed a patient reported measurement of the burden of treatment in vitiligo with good psychometric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a painful chronic, recurrent inflammatory skin disease with great impact on health‐related quality of life (HRQOL). Recently, Hidradenitis SuppuraTiva cORe outcomes set International Collaboration (HISTORIC) established HRQOL as a core domain set for HS clinical trials and developed the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Quality of Life (HiSQOL) as a validated outcome measurement instrument. Objectives: To provide further convergent validity of HiSQOL by comparing it to Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure‐Revised 2 (PRISM‐R2). Methods: In this cross‐sectional study, 103 participants completed HiSQOL, PRISM‐R2 and DLQI. PRISM‐R2 is an instrument designed to measure suffering and reports the two measures, Illness Perception Measure (IPM) and Self‐Illness Separation (SIS). Correlation analyses were performed including a sub‐analysis for a subgroup of patients with high scores in the HS‐specific domains of HiSQOL. Results: A very strong correlation was found between HiSQOL and DLQI (ρ = 0.93, P < 2.2 × 10−16, (95% CI: 0.89;0.95)), and moderately strong correlations were found between HiSQOL and SIS (ρ = −0.73, P < 2.2 × 10−16, (95% CI: −0.81; −0.62)) and DLQI and SIS (ρ = −0.70, P < 2.2 × 10−16, (95% CI: −0.79; −0.59)). IPM was positively associated with HiSQOL and DLQI and negatively with SIS. Conclusions: HiSQOL is a valid measure of quality of life for HS patients, and we suggest that HiSQOL can be used as a measure of suffering as well. Linked commentary: C.C. Zoubouli et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2021; 35: 1420–1421. https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.17306. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]