Keywords: Dermatoporosis,Validation,Reliability

Aim:

As elderly population increases, age-related conditions become more important in daily practice. Dermatoporosis is described as chronic cutaneous insufficiency, and is associated with aging, sun exposure, corticosteroid use and some chronic diseases. Because dermatoporotic skin loses its protection ability, it is prone to complications such as skin tears, and even life-threatening hematomas. The Index Dermatoporosis Assessment (IDA) is easy-to-use self-assessment questionnaire developed for screening dermatoporosis in primary care; its final validated form includes 14 items and yields a total score from 0 to 20.This study aimed to translate IDA into Turkish and to evaluate its validity and reliability.

Method:

Following good translation practice principles, the questionnaire underwent independent forward translation, reconciliation, back-translation, original author review, and expert evaluation for clarity and comprehensibility. The final Turkish version was administered to 230 participants and they were examined by a dermatologist blinded to the questionnaire results. Although the gold standart diagnosis of dermatoporosis is by inspection and ultrasound measurement; in this study, the diagnosis of dermatoporosis was established by dermatologist examination as present or absent, same as the original article. Ultrasound was not preferred because it is not always available in primary care settings and was also not used in the original study. Test-retest reliability was assessed by re-administering the questionnaire to a randomly chosen subgroup of 39 participants after 2-4 weeks.

Results:

Among 230 participants, the prevalance of dermatoporosis was 27%. The IDA-TR showed good discriminatory ability, with an AUC of 0.815(95% CI: 0,751-0,879). The optimal cut-off value according to Youden index was 11, yielding 72,6% sensitivity and 79,2% specificity. The negative and positive predictive values were 88,7% and 56,3%,respectively. Internal consistency was sufficient(KR-20:0,795). Test-retest reliability showed good stability over time(ICC:0.895).

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that the IDA-TR is valid and reliable and may serve as a feasible, efficient screening tool in family medicine practice.