Translation, validation, and psychometric evaluation of the Italian version of the facial clinimetric evaluation (FaCE) scale for patients with peripheral facial palsy.

Background: In the management of patients with peripheral facial palsy, it is essential to have tools that allow patients to tell what their facial disabilities are.

Objective: This study aimed to translate and validate the FaCE scale into Italian (I-FaCE).

Material and methods: The FaCE scale was translated into Italian using a three-stage process. The draft was reviewed for comprehensibility by SLTs and revised accordingly. The beta version of I-FaCE was administered to 200 patients. Internal consistency was measured using McDonald's omega, while test-retest reliability was assessed with a fifteen-day interval between administrations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to evaluate construct validity. Concurrent validity was tested by correlating I-FaCE scores with the House-Brackmann Scale, Sunnybrook Scale, and FDI Scale.

Results: The I-FaCE demonstrated excellent internal consistency (McDonald's omega = 0.87) and strong test-retest reliability. CFA indicated a good model fit, with indices such as CFI (0.94), TLI (0.91), RMSEA (0.07), and RMSR (0.06). Concurrent validity showed significant correlations between I-FaCE and other grading systems.

Conclusion and significance: I-FaCE is a valid and reliable tool to assess the impact of facial dysfunction on quality of life. Its adoption will facilitate better patient care and enable meaningful comparisons with international data.