Preliminary study on reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Asher-McDade aesthetic index.

Objectives: This study aims to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Asher-McDade aesthetic index and clarify its feasibility for the postoperative outcome evaluation of cleft lip in China.

Methods: The Chinese version of the Asher-McDade aesthetic index was established through translation, back translation, debugging, and pre-survey. Eighty postoperative photographs of patients with cleft lip admitted to the West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University were included. Ten healthcare professionals, including surgeons, nurses, and students, in the department of cleft lip and palate surgery finished the index to test its reliability and validity.

Results: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient and retest reliability of this index are 0.804 and 0.895, respectively. The item-level content validity index (I-CVI) and scale-level content validity index ave-rage (S-CVI/ave) of the index are 1.000 and 0.95, respectively. For this index, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test score is 0.706, the χ² value of Bartlett's test for the consistency of the index is 962.260 (P<0.01), and the cumulative variance contribution rate is 63.095%.

Conclusions: The Chinese version of the Asher-McDade aesthe-tic index has good reliability and validity and is applicable to the professional evaluation of the effect of postoperative photographs in Chinese patients with cleft lip.