Novel, Validated 5-Point Photonumeric Scales for Assessment of the Neck and Décolleté

Abstract

Background A scarcity of scales which assess platysmal bands, wrinkles in the décolleté, and horizontal necklines in the digital and live setting exist. Objectives The objective of this investigation was to create and validate 5-point photo numeric scales which assess horizontal necklines, platysmal bands and wrinkles in the décolleté. Methods A medical team created 3 different novel 5-point photonumeric scale for the assessment of horizontal necklines, platysmal bands and décolleté wrinkling. Eleven international raters were involved in the digital validation, while 4 raters performed a live validation. Results The Croma Horizontal Neck Line - Assessment Scale showed substantial inter-rater agreement and almost perfect intra-rater agreement in the digital and live validations. The Croma Platysmal Bands-Assessment Scale showed substantial intra-rater agreement in both, digital and live validations. For the décolleté, a static and a dynamic scale was created and validated. The Croma Static Décolleté Wrinkling-Assessment Scale showed substantial and almost perfect inter-rater agreement in the digital validation and live-validation, respectively, while the intra-rater agreement was in both almost perfect. The Croma Dynamic Décolleté Wrinkling-Assessment Scale showed almost perfect agreement in both validation settings for both, inter-and intra-rater agreement. Conclusions The Croma Horizontal Neck Line - Assessment Scale, the Croma Static and Dynamic Décolleté Wrinkling-Assessment Scales have sufficient inter and intrarater agreements to be justifiably used in the clinical and study setting.