Abstract
The assessment of the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic diseases before
and after medical interventions has gained increasing importance in recent decades.
Particularly for patients with visible keloid scars in the head and neck region, standardized
measurement tools are either absent or have been shown to be insufficient. The aim
of the present study was to create a new standardized questionnaire that is specific
to auricular keloid patients and reflects their clinical symptoms and QoL. The Keloid
Intervention Benefit Inventory 21 (KIBI-21) questionnaire was developed in two stages.
First, a group of experts identified a pool of 26 questions and modified and supplemented
the items through a comparison with existing QoL assessments so that they related
to keloid-specific clinical symptoms and the QoL of patients with auricular keloids
before and after a medical intervention. This questionnaire was distributed to 27
outpatients who had undergone medical interventions for visible auricular keloids.
Second, a sequential statistical analysis was conducted. This included a single-item
assessment and reduction, analysis for internal consistency, construct validity, and
divergence validity as well as a factor analysis. The analyses were performed for
the entire questionnaire and for the items in the subcategories General Health, Physical
Symptoms, Self-Esteem, and Social Impact. The final version of this newly validated
and standardized KIBI questionnaire consisted of 21 items, of which each item was
assigned to only one subscale. The questionnaire showed a Cronbach's α of 0.84 with
a good internal consistency. In the item correlation validity, strong associations
were found in all subscales, except for the Social Impact Subscale. The keloid-specific
QoL questionnaire KIBI-21 proved to be a reliable and reproducible instrument to assess
the QoL and clinical symptoms in patients suffering from auricular keloids before
and after a medical treatment.
Keywords
auricular keloids - quality of life (QoL) - questionnaire - KIBI-21
