Cardiff acne disability index: cross-cultural translation in Korean and its relationship with clinical acne severity, pathological patterns, and general quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To culturally translate the cardiff acne disability index (CADI) into Korean, and to examine its relationship with clinical acne severity, pathological patterns, and general quality of life (QoL). METHODS: The CADI was culturally and lin- guistically translated into Korean via translation, back-translation, and face validity test process. Two hundred and fifty-four Korean adolescents were asked to complete the Korean version of the CADI (K-CADI), the Phlegm Pattern, the Cold-Heat Pattern, and the Korean version of the General Health Questionnaires. A clinician estimated acne severity for the adolescents, using the Korean Acne Grading System. Finally, reliability and validity of the K-CADI was examined, and the relationships between acne severity, Phlegm, Cold, and Heat patterns, and QoL level were examined via pathway analysis. RESULTS: The K-CADI had satisfactory internal con- sistency (α = 0.827). The examination of construct validity indicated that the K-CADI had one factor (explaining 59.6% of the total variance). Pathway analysis showed satisfactory model fit (normal fit index = 0.960 and comparative fit index = 0.983), and acne-related QoL was determinant to Phlegm, Heat, and Cold patterns (0.13-0.27 of ß), and Phlegm and Heat patterns lowered one's QoL level (0.17-0.34 of ß). CONCLUSION: The K-CADI is a valid and reliable instrument. Phlegm and Heat patterns should be managed when treating acne since they have a moderating effect on general QoL aggravation.