Final Phase of the Cross-Cultural Validation of the Spanish Version of the Hair Specific Skindex-29 Scale: Sensitivity to Change and Correlation with the SF-12 Scale

The study completed the validation process of the Spanish version of the Hair Specific Skindex-29 (HSS-29) scale, which measures the impact of female-pattern hair loss on health-related quality of life. The study involved 983 women with female-pattern hair loss who were treated with a nutritional supplement that blocks the activity of 5-alpha-reductase. The mean HSS-29 score decreased from 25.7 ± 18.7 at baseline to 19.3 ± 15.7 at the 6-month follow-up, indicating significant changes in functioning, emotions, and symptoms domains. The changes in HSS-29 scores were significantly correlated with changes in the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) scores, with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from -0.1 to -0.4 (P < .001). The study concluded that the Spanish version of HSS-29 is sensitive to change and can detect changes in health-related quality of life when objective conditions vary.