Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC (location VUmc), Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Burn Center and Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Red Cross Hospital, Beverwijk, The Netherlands.
Qual Life Res. 2023 Feb;32(2):583-592. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03244-6. Epub 2022 Nov 10.
The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) is widely used for measurements of scar quality. This encompasses visual, tactile and sensory characteristics of the scar. The Patient Scale of previous POSAS versions was lacking input from patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop the POSAS3.0, Patient Scale with involvement of adults patients with all scar types, complying with the highest clinimetric standards.
From February 2018 to April 2019, a series of six focus group interviews were performed in the Netherlands and Australia to identify scar quality characteristics that adults with scars consider to be important. All focus groups were transcribed, anonymized and analysed using a thematic analysis. Relevant characteristics were formulated into items, resulting in a Dutch and English version of the Patient Scale. These drafts were pilot tested in Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and refined accordingly.
A total of 21 relevant scar quality characteristics were identified during the focus groups. Two distinct versions of the POSAS3.0, Patient Scale were developed. The Generic version contains 16 items and can be used for all scar types, except linear scars. The Linear Scar version of the Patient Scale contains the same 16 items, with an extra item referring to the widening of scar margins. All included items are rated on a verbal rating scale with five response options.
Two versions of the POSAS3.0 Patient Scale were developed. Further field tests are being performed to establish the measurement properties and scoring algorithm of the scales.
患者和观察者瘢痕评估量表（POSAS）被广泛用于测量瘢痕质量。它包含了瘢痕的视觉、触觉和感觉特征。以前的 POSAS 版本的患者量表缺乏患者的反馈。因此，本研究的目的是开发 POSAS3.0 患者量表，让所有类型瘢痕的成年患者参与其中，并符合最高的临床计量学标准。
从 2018 年 2 月到 2019 年 4 月，在荷兰和澳大利亚进行了一系列 6 次焦点小组访谈，以确定成年人认为重要的瘢痕质量特征。所有焦点小组的讨论内容都被转录、匿名处理，并使用主题分析进行分析。相关特征被归纳为条目，形成了荷兰语和英语版本的患者量表。这些草案在澳大利亚、荷兰和英国进行了试点测试，并进行了相应的改进。
在焦点小组中确定了 21 个与瘢痕质量相关的特征。开发了两种不同版本的 POSAS3.0 患者量表。通用版本包含 16 个条目，可用于所有类型的瘢痕，除了线性瘢痕。患者量表的线性瘢痕版本包含相同的 16 个条目，外加一个关于瘢痕边缘变宽的条目。所有包含的条目都在一个五选项的描述性评分量表上进行评分。
开发了两种版本的 POSAS3.0 患者量表。正在进行进一步的现场测试，以确定这些量表的测量特性和评分算法。
