Establishing Convergent Validity of the Face-Q Aesthetics Module Scales

Lucas Gallo; Patrick Kim; Isabella Churchill; Charlene Rae; Sophocles H Voineskos; Achilles Thoma; Andrea L Pusic; Stefan J Cano; Anne F Klassen

doi:10.1093/asj/sjaf003

Establishing Convergent Validity of the Face-Q Aesthetics Module Scales

Aesthet Surg J. 2025 Jan 7:sjaf003. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjaf003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lucas Gallo¹, Patrick Kim¹, Isabella Churchill¹, Charlene Rae², Sophocles H Voineskos³, Achilles Thoma¹, Andrea L Pusic⁴, Stefan J Cano⁵, Anne F Klassen²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Plastic Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
² Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
³ Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Division of Plastic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Modus Outcomes, Statfold, United Kingdom.

PMID: 39774767
DOI: 10.1093/asj/sjaf003

Abstract

Background: FACE-Q Aesthetics scales assess patient-important outcomes following both surgical/nonsurgical facial cosmetic interventions. Convergent validity is the degree to which the scores of one measurement relate to another measuring a similar construct.

Objectives: This study aims to establish the convergent validity of 11 FACE-Q Aesthetics appearance scales using the MERZ Aesthetics scales.

Methods: Data were collected from an online international sample of participants aged ≥20 years, who presented to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon within the last 12 months for a minimally invasive facial aesthetic treatment. Participants provided demographic and clinical data and completed 11 FACE-Q Aesthetics scales and 12 MERZ Aesthetics scales. Hypotheses regarding the strength of correlations between scales were generated a priori. Adequate convergent validity was based on percentage of correct hypotheses (>75%) and/or correlation ≥0.50 with an instrument measuring a similar construct.

Results: 1259 participants were included in this survey. Participants were on average 42.6 (±11.9) years old, and mostly female (72.5%), Caucasian (76.9%), and living in the United States (49.9%) or the United Kingdom (42.9%). FACE-Q Lines Overall, Lower Face and Jawline, Appraisal of Lines - Forehead/Between Eyebrows/Crow's Feet/Lips/Nasolabial Folds/Marionette, and Lips scales demonstrated adequate convergent validity with patient reported MERZ Aesthetics scales. The FACE-Q Face Overall and Cheeks scales did not show adequate convergent validity.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence of convergent validity for FACE-Q Aesthetics appearance scales. Establishing validity of these scales remains an iterative process and further studies comparing the FACE-Q to other related measurement tools are required to strengthen this evidence.