Reliability of electronic versus manual wound measurement techniques.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the accuracy and reliability of 3 wound measurement techniques, including linear and 2 electronic techniques--Visitrak and the VeV MD system.

DESIGN

Repeated measures involving forty 2-dimensional "wounds" with a range of clinically relevant sizes were created using regular paper. Blinded observers measured the surface areas of wounds in 2 sessions, using 3 techniques.

SETTING

Research department of a tertiary referral center.

PARTICIPANTS

Four blinded observers.

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Mixed linear models were fitted to determine interobserver and intraobserver variability. The average root mean square error (RMSE) for each measurement technique was determined to investigate the accuracy.

RESULTS

Intraobserver variation was not significant in most measurement techniques. Interobserver variation was significant for all techniques. Linear measurements showed the highest RMSE, whereas VeV and Visitrak were comparable.

CONCLUSIONS

Reliability of repeated wound measurements for all techniques can be achieved only with the same observer. Linear measurement has the least accuracy in evaluating wound size, VeV is slightly better than Visitrak for large wounds, and Visitrak is slightly better than VeV for small wounds. Our study shows that the use of electronic devices is superior to manual techniques to achieve valid measurements of wound area.