title: [ECLA grading: a system of acne classification for every day dermatological practice].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Different acne gradings have been proposed: global grading, semi-global grading, quantitative grading and photographic grading. They are mainly used in clinical studies for the evaluation of acne treatment. However, it would be important for physicians to have an acne grade which would be useful for assessing acne lesions prior to treatment and following treatment efficacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six French dermatologists developed an acne grading scaled called "ECLA" which only takes 2 minutes to fill out and specifically designed for use by dermatologist practitioners. In addition, the intra- and inter-observer reliability of the grading scale was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This analysis demonstrated the excellent reliability of the ECLA grading scale both in terms of intra- and inter-observer variability except for the retentional factor. The cross physician reliability decreased with time specificity for the retention factor, indicating that previous training prior to a multicentric clinical study would be necessary.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ECLA grading appears to be an interesting and useful tool in dermatology for the follow-up of acne patients.
authors.affiliation: Clinique dermatologique, CHU, Nantes.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dreno
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bodokh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chivot
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Humbert
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Clerson
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Berrou
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000145:classification*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006801:Humans; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric