The
Acne-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (
Acne-QoL) was developed to measure the impact of facial
acne across four dimensions of patient quality of life. The main objective of the current study was to evaluate the responsiveness of this instrument. Secondarily, this study provided an opportunity to extend the developer's psychometric validation. The
Acne-QoL was utilized in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of the efficacy of
Estrostep (
norethindrone acetate/
ethinyl estradiol) in the treatment of facial
acne; a total of 296
Estrostep and 295 placebo patients were evaluated. The
Acne-QoL was completed at the beginning, middle (cycle 3), and end (cycle 6) of the 6-month treatment period. The responsiveness of the
Acne-QoL was demonstrated through its ability to detect both small (baseline to mid-study) and moderate (baseline to study end) treatment advantages for
Estrostep patients. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the subscale structure, and internal consistency estimates were excellent. Convergent and discriminant validity were supported by correlations between
Acne-QoL scores and clinical measures that were both in the direction and relative magnitude hypothesized. Finally, item response theory analyses confirmed that each item is highly related to its subscale's latent construct and that each subscale is sensitive across a broad range of the underlying continuum. The results of this evaluation confirm that the
Acne-QoL is responsive, internally consistent, and valid.