Original Articles

Validated Assessment Scale for Neck Volume

Sattler, Gerhard MD1; Carruthers, Alastair MD2; Carruthers, Jean MD3; Flynn, Timothy C. MD4,5; Geister, Thorin L. PhD6; Görtelmeyer, Roman PhD5; Hardas, Bhushan MD7; Himmrich, Silvia MSc6; Jones, Derek MD8; Kerscher, Martina MD, PhD9; Mohrmann, Cornelia MD6; Narins, Rhoda S. MD10,11; Pooth, Rainer MD, PhD6; Rzany, Berthold MD, ScM12; Buchner, Larry BA13; Benter, Ursula MSc14; Breitscheidel, Lusine MD, MPH14; de Maio, Maurício MD15

Author Information

1Rosenparkklinik, Darmstadt, Germany

2Department of Dermatology and Skin Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

3Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

4Department of Dermatology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,

5Cary Skin Center, Cary, North Carolina,

6Research and Development HQ, MERZ Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany

7Research and Development, MERZ Pharmaceuticals LLC, Greensboro, North Carolina,

8Department of Dermatology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California,

9Division of Cosmetic Sciences, University Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

10Dermatology Surgery and Laser Center, New York, New York,

11Department of Dermatology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York,

12Division of Evidence Based Medicine, Klinik für Dermatologie, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

13Canfield Scientific Inc, Fairfield, New Jersey,

14INC Research GmbH, Munich, Germany

15Clinica Mauricio De Maio, Sao Paolo, SP, Brasil

Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Gerhard Sattler, MD, Rosenparkklinik, Heidelberger Landstr. 20, 64297 Darmstadt, Germany, or e-mail: [email protected]

Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH provided funding for this study.

Drs. Alastair Carruthers, Jean Carruthers, Derek Jones, Maurício de Maio, Rhoda S. Narins, Berthold Rzany, Martina Kerscher, Timothy C. Flynn, and Gerhard Sattler are paid consultants to Merz Pharmaceuticals.

Dermatologic Surgery 38(2 ptII):p 343-350, February 2012. | DOI: 10.1111/j.1524-4725.2011.02253.x

Abstract

Background 

Sagging of the neck aesthetic area is an important indicator of age. The development of complex and globally accepted tools for proper assessment of the change in neck volume is an essential contribution to aesthetic research and the routine clinical setting.

Objective 

To develop a grading scale for the objective assessment of the neck volume and to establish the reliability of this scale for clinical research and practice.

Materials and Methods 

A 5-point rating scale was developed to assess neck volume objectively. Twelve experts rated frontal and lateral neck photographs of 50 subjects in two separate rating cycles using the neck volume scale. Responses of raters were analyzed to assess inter- and intrarater reliability.

Results 

Interrater reliability for the neck volume scale was almost perfect, with intraclass correlation coefficients for the first and second rating cycles of 0.85 and 0.84, respectively. Intrarater reliability for the neck volume scale was high (0.90) and Pearson correlation coefficients ranged between 0.88 and 0.95 and were statistically significant.

Conclusion 

The neck volume scale demonstrates optimal reliability for clinical research and practice.

© 2012 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc.

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