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Background and Design: Quality of life scales provide clinicians a systematic and scientifically valid data to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment options. The Skindex-16 is a dermatology related quality of life measure developed in the United States of America as a skin disease-specific quality-of-life measure. We aimed to generate a semantically equivalent translation of the Skindex-16 to use in Turkish language. Materials and Methods: The Skindex-16 was translated by five Turkish bilingual people. Two native English speakers who were also fluent in Turkish separately translated the initial Turkish translation of the Skindeks-16 back into English. The author of the original Skindex-16 (Chren MM) reviewed both of the backward-translations and evaluated the semantic equivalence of the questionnaire items. Measurement properties were evaluated for the final version of the Turkish version of the Skindex-16. Internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, construct validity, content validity, and convergent validity of the Turkish version were examined. Results: The symptom, emotional, and functional scales were internally consistent with Cronbach's α-coefficients of 0.88, 0.91, and 0.91, respectively. Test-retest reliability was determined with readministration of the Skindex-16 72 hours later (symptoms of 0.90, 0.93 and function of emotion 0.96). Construct validity was determined with verification of the hypothesis of the average scale of inflammatory disease being higher than isolated skin lesion (p<0.05) and also with factor analysis. Three factors were extracted in a principal axes factor analysis with varimax rotation. Factors were compatible with the original Skindex-16 scales. Content validity was demonstrated with Skindex-16 items covering 87.2% of the open-ended question. Convergent validity was defined with the correlation between comparative scales of Skindex-16 and Short Form-36. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the Skindex-16 is internally consistent and demonstrates test-retest reliability, construct and content validity. This brief version can be used for the assessment of the quality of life of Turkish-speaking dermatology patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of the Turkish Dermatology & Venerology / Turkderm is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of the Turkish Dermatology & Venerology / Turkderm is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of the Turkish Dermatology & Venerology / Turkderm is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Focal hyperhidrosis is usually localized to the axillae, palms and soles. Less frequently, hyperhidrosis may be confined to the forehead and may have negative impact on patient's quality of life. A 34-year-old man presented to our clinic with the complaint of frontal hyperhidrosis. He was treated with botulinum toxin A. Thirty points were marked over the forehead and at each injection point, 0.15 ml (3U) botulinum toxin A were injected intracutaneously. Hyperhidrosis was significantly reduced and the effect lasted for 12 months. Skindex-29, a quality-of-life measure for skin disease, was administered to the patient at the beginning and at the end of second week of botulinum toxin A injection. There was a significant improvement on the Skindex-29 scale at the end of the treatment. There was no any side effect detected during and after the treatment. Botulinum toxin A treatment is considered to be effective and safe for frontal hyperhidrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]