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The FACE-Q: The Importance of Full Disclosure and Sound Methodology in Outcome Studies

2014; Oxford University Press; Volume: 34; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1090820x14528505

1527-330X

Eric Swanson,

Meta-analysis and systematic reviews

Panchapakesan et al1 employed psychometric tests to award their method, the FACE-Q, the seal of scientific validation. The authors dismiss ad hoc studies,2 which they consider invalid.3 Unfortunately, their study raises troubling issues, both ethically and methodologically; they introduce a new questionnaire without including the actual survey questions or scales. It is no more reasonable to conceal this information than it is to withhold the details of a new operation. The authors do not reveal the study questions and scales because they are proprietary, and they caution users not to modify the test, which would “violate copyright provisions.”1 Imagine the consequences to medical care if the developers of the electrocardiogram (ECG) had patented their invention and demanded that users pay licensing fees. Medical advancement depends on physicians' willingness to give as they have received.4 This is the fourth publication on the development of the FACE-Q.1,5–7 Descriptions of an aging appraisal scale and perceived age visual analog scale …