title: A clinical rating scale for the assessment of facial aging in Indian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Estimation of facial aging has assumed growing importance due to the advent of several antiaging therapies. Evidence-based estimation of global facial aging is often necessary, especially for validation of these treatment modalities. Most available methods are expensive and have been used in fair skinned individuals.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We attempted to develop a clinical rating scale for the estimation of global facial aging applied on an Indian population which has brown to black skin. We have also measured the association of this rating scale score with the chronological age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Initially, a 14- item summated rating scale was developed with inputs from five dermatologists and a clinical pharmacologist. The rating scale was applied to 105 consenting subjects with healthy facial skin between 30 to 90 years of age. Intra- and inter-rater reliability was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The summated rating score showed a significant positive correlation with the chronological age (Pearson's correlation coefficient 0.834, P < 0.001). We omitted one item from the scale due to a low inter-rater agreement. The resulting 13-item rating scale was internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha: 0.905), with substantial inter- and intra-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.973 and 0.788, respectively). Principal components and predictive equation for perceptible age were identified on further computation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Participants of this study were limited to a particular ethnic group from West Bengal and other neighboring states of Eastern India.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have developed and validated a 13-item rating scale for the quantification of global facial aging suitable for Indian (brown to black) skin type. This scale can be utilized effectively for clinical estimation of global facial aging.
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Supriyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.forename: Anusree
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gangopadhyay
authors.forename: Chinmay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Halder
authors.forename: Projna
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005145:Face / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000473:pathology*