The Validation of the Disease-Specific Questionnaire for Health-Related Quality of Life in Thai Patients with Hemifacial Spasm
Suwanna Setthawatcharawanich MD*, Nipat Aui-aree MD**, Kitti Limapichart MD*, Pornchai Satirapunya MD*, Kanitpong Phabphal MD*
Affiliation : * Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Songklanagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla ** Neuro-ophthalomology Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, Songklanagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla
Objective : To investigate the reliability and validity of the Thai version of disease-specific health-related
quality of life instrument for patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS) as well as their response to botulinum toxin
treatment.
Material and Method: A Thai version of HFS-30 has been developed with the permission of the author. Thirty
patients with HFS were asked to complete this Thai HFS-30, the 6-point disability scale before treatment and
between four and six weeks after botulinum toxin injections. Peak improvement (0-100%) was subjectively
assessed by each patient between four and six weeks after injection. They were also asked to answer the
existing Thai SF-36 questionnaire before treatment to test its correlation with Thai HFS-30. Another group of
ten patients completed the questionnaire and then a second identical copy after a 2-week interval. The
reliability, validity, and responsiveness were subsequently analyzed.
Results : The Thai HFS-30 showed a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.78 and no significant difference of a test-
retest reliability. The total content validity was 0.88 (range 0.5-1.0). There were good correlations between
both the Physical and Mental Health parts of the Thai HFS-30 and Thai SF-36 (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01,
respectively). The Thai HFS-30 also demonstrated a response to treatment similar to the 6-point disability
scale and the peak improvement.
Conclusion : The Thai version of HFS-30 is a valid, reliable, and sensitive to change instrument for disease
specific health-related quality of life assessment.
Keywords : Hemifacial spasm, Thai HFS-30, Quality of life, Validity
