Validated assessment scale for neck volume.
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.


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.


CONCLUSIONS
The neck volume scale demonstrates optimal reliability for clinical research and practice.
Rosenparkklinik, Heidelberger Landstrasse 20, Darmstadt, Germany. gerhard.sattler@rosenparkklinik.de
Gerhard
G
Sattler
Alastair
A
Carruthers
Jean
J
Carruthers
Timothy C
TC
Flynn
Thorin L
TL
Geister
Roman
R
Görtelmeyer
Bhushan
B
Hardas
Silvia
S
Himmrich
Derek
D
Jones
Martina
M
Kerscher
Cornelia
C
Mohrmann
Rhoda S
RS
Narins
Rainer
R
Pooth
Berthold
B
Rzany
Larry
L
Buchner
Ursula
U
Benter
Lusine
L
Breitscheidel
Maurício
M
de Maio
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D015588:Observer Variation; D010781:Photography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000502:physiology*