Validation of the vitiligo-specific quality-of-life instrument (VitiQoL) for the Turkish language: the VitiQoL-TR study.

Vitiligo is a generally asymptomatic acquired depigmentation disorder, limiting the utility of general dermatology quality of life (QoL) scales that may not adequately reflect the psychosocial burden experienced by patients. The aim of our study was to translate the vitiligo-specific quality-of-life instrument (VitiQoL) with maximum score of 90, into Turkish language, and to culturally adapt and validate it for use in the Turkish population. The VitiQoL was initially cross‑culturally adapted to Turkish through forward‑backward translation. The Turkish version of the VitiQoL together with the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) and the Skindex‑16 scale were applied to Turkish vitiligo patients. A total of 148 consecutive volunteer vitiligo patients were included in the study. The internal consistency of the Turkish version of the VitiQoL was excellent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.915). Since the Turkish version of the VitiQoL item 13 had a corrected item-total correlation lower than 0.3 (0.264), it was removed from the survey. VitiQoL-TR includes 14 items, with the removal of item 13 (Cronbach's alpha = 0.922). Exploratory factor analyses revealed two distinct factors within the VitiQoL scale: participation limitation and stigma. Forty-six (31.08%) of the participants completed the VitiQoL-TR twice, 10-14 days apart. The test and retest scores of the VitiQoL-TR had a strong significant correlation (r = 0.883; p < 0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.939. There was a strong significant correlation between the VitiQoL-TR score and the Skindex-16 score (r = 0.848; p < 0.001), and a moderate significant correlation with the DLQI score (r = 0.696; p < 0.001) thus confirming the convergent validity. In conclusion, the maximum value of the scale is 84 instead of 90. This should be taken into consideration when conducting international studies and comparing international data. The VitiQoL-TR is a valid and reliable health-related QoL tool for assessing the QoL of Turkish vitiligo patients.