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Health-related quality of life questionnaire for corneal anaesthesia patients: a content validity assessment

Eye volume 39, pages 2780–2786 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives

FACE-Q Craniofacial Module is a validated patient-reported outcome measure for appearance. This study aimed to assess the content validity of FACE-Q Craniofacial Module for use in patients treated for corneal anaesthesia.

Subjects/Methods

This was a qualitative, prospective observational study. Cognitive debriefing interviews were conducted with patients ≥8 years old who had surgical treatment for corneal anaesthesia at least six months before time of study. Two rounds of interviews gathered feedback on the comprehensibility, comprehensiveness, and relevance of three eye scales and checklists and four health-related quality-of-life scales. Based on the input from participants, ophthalmologists, scientists, and patient advocates, the scales and checklists were modified, then further refined.

Results

Feedback on the FACE-Q scales and checklists was obtained from 10 participants. Instructions for the scales were modified to enhance comprehensibility. Eleven items were revised for enhanced comprehensibility and relevance. Twelve items were added to enhance comprehensiveness. Four items were removed due to their irrelevance to appearance or corneal anaesthesia. Modifications to the eye and health-related quality-of-life scales were generally condition-specific and generic, respectively. A comment section was added to the end of each scale and checklist.

Conclusions

The FACE-Q demonstrates strong potential for adaptation to measure appearance outcomes in corneal anaesthesia patients. With lived expertise, clinical, and scientific input, the content validity of FACE-Q was improved for use in corneal anaesthesia patients. The modified FACE-Q is now ready for psychometric evaluation and further validation.

Meeting Presentations: Poster Presentation at 2023 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.

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Data availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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Acknowledgements

Author FK is supported by the Vision Science Research Program Award and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. A special thanks to the Dimaras Lab members, Dr. Sarah Wheeler, and patient advocates Ava Beatty, Ivana Ristevski, and Michelle Prunier for their valuable insights throughout the study.

Funding

Author FK is supported by the University of Toronto Vision Science Research Program Award and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Farheen Khan, Roxanne Noronha, Sara Williams, Asim Ali & Helen Dimaras

  2. Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Farheen Khan, Asim Ali & Helen Dimaras

  3. Patient Advocate, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Anojan Satgunalingam

  4. Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Karen W. Y. Wong-Riff

  5. Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Karen W. Y. Wong-Riff

  6. Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Karen W. Y. Wong-Riff

  7. Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Asim Ali & Helen Dimaras

  8. Child Health Evaluative Sciences Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Helen Dimaras

  9. The Centre for Global Child Health, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Helen Dimaras

  10. Division of Clinical Public Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Helen Dimaras

Authors
  1. Farheen Khan
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  2. Roxanne Noronha
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  3. Sara Williams
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  4. Anojan Satgunalingam
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  5. Karen W. Y. Wong-Riff
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  6. Asim Ali
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  7. Helen Dimaras
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Contributions

FK: Design, Acquisition of Data, Analysis and Interpretation, Drafting, Final Approval. RN: Acquisition of Data, Revising, Final Approval. SW: Acquisition of Data, Revising, Final Approval. AS: Analysis and Interpretation, Revising, Final Approval. KWYW-R: Design, Analysis and Interpretation, Revising, Final Approval. AA: Design, Analysis and Interpretation, Revising, Final Approval. HD: Design, Analysis and Interpretation, Revising, Final Approval.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen Dimaras.

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Khan, F., Noronha, R., Williams, S. et al. Health-related quality of life questionnaire for corneal anaesthesia patients: a content validity assessment. Eye 39, 2780–2786 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-025-03969-x

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