Development and validation of a Hindi language health-related quality of life questionnaire for melasma in Indian patients.

Background: Melasma, which is fairly common in Indians, causes signifi cant emotional and psychological impact. A Hindi instrument would be useful to assess the impact of melasma on the quality of life in Indian patients. Objective: To create a semantic equivalent of the original MELASQOL questionnaire in Hindi and validate it. Methods: A Hindi adaptation of the original MELASQOL (Hi-MELASQOL) was prepared using previously established guidelines. After pre-testing, the Hi-MELASQOL questionnaire was administered to 100 women with melasma visiting the out-patient registration counter of Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi. These women were also administered a Hindi equivalent of the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) questionnaire. Melasma area severity index (MASI) of all the participants was calculated. Results: The mean MASI score was 20.0 ± 7.5 and Hi-MELASQOL score was 37.19 ± 18.15; both were highly, positively and signifi cantly correlated. Reliability analysis showed satisfactory results. Physical health, emotional well-being and social life were the most adversely affected life domains. Limitations: It was a single-center study and the number of patients studied could have been larger. Conclusion: Hi-MELASQOL is a reliable and validated tool to measure the quality of life in Indians with melasma.

Global comparative healthcare effectiveness research: Evaluating sustainable programmes in low & middle resource settings.

The need to focus healthcare expenditures on innovative and sustainable health systems that efficiently use existing effective therapies are the major drivers stimulating Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) across the globe. Lack of adequate access and high cost of essential medicines and technologies in many countries increases morbidity and mortality and cost of care that forces people and families into poverty due to disability and out-of-pocket expenses. This review illustrates the potential of value-added global health care comparative effectiveness research in shaping health systems and health care delivery paradigms in the “global south”. Enabling the development of effective CER systems globally paves the way for tangible local and regional definitions of equity in health care because CER fosters the sharing of critical assets, resources, skills, and capabilities and the development of collaborative of multi-sectorial frameworks to improve health outcomes and metrics globally.