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FACE-Q used for patient-reported outcomes in aesthetic treatments

The FACE-Q appearance scales and adverse effects checklist is an instrument that can be used by clinicians to incorporate a patient’s perspective in cosmetic outcome assessments, according to study results published today in JAMA Dermatology.

The patient-reported outcome instrument includes scales that measured the appearance of the skin, lips and facial rhytids, with scores ranging from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest), and the FACE-Q adverse effects checklist, which measured problems after skin and lip treatments.

A psychometric study was conducted to select clinically sensitive items for inclusion in item-reduced scales and to measure patient reliability and validity. The study included 558 pre- and posttreatment patients (field test sample; mean age, 47.4 years) consulting for facial aesthetic treatment, and 280 patients from a clinical trial a minimally invasive lip treatment in the United Kingdom and France (clinical trial sample; mean age, 47.7 years) included in the study. Recruitment took place between June 6, 2010, and July 28, 2014.

Most patients in both study cohorts were female (85.3% in the field test sample and 97.9% in the clinical trial cohort).

Eight appearance scales were refined after analysis.

“All FACE-Q items had ordered thresholds and acceptable item fit,” the researchers wrote.

Reliability was high and was measured with the Personal Separation Index and Cronbach α.

There were lower scores for appearance scales measuring skin (r = –0.48; P < .001), lips (r = –0.21; P = .001) and lip rhytids (r = –0.32; P < .001), which correlated with the reporting of more skin and lip-related adverse effects.

There was a correlation between higher scores for the eight appearance scales and higher scores on the core 10-item FACE-Q satisfaction with facial appearance scale (P < .001).

Older age had a significant correlation with lower scores on most rhytids scales in the pretreatment patients (range, P = .03 to <.001).

There were significantly lower scores on seven of eight appearance scales for pretreatment patients compared with posttreatment patients (range, P < .001 to .005).

“Evidence-based information about patient outcomes for facial aesthetic treatment is needed,” the researchers concluded. “The FACE-Q provides the research community and physicians with a [patient-reported outcome] instrument they can use to include patients in the assessment of outcomes.” – by Bruce Thiel

Disclosure: The FACE-Q is owned by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Klassen reports being a codeveloper of the FACE-Q and, as such, receives a share of any license revenues as royalties based on Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s inventor sharing policy. Please see the full study for other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.