ArticlePlastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open2025
Development of the Observer Scales of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale: An International Delphi Study.
Article in Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How to Assess Scar Quality in Pediatric Burn Patients: A Systematic Review on the Type and Content of Outcome Measurement Instruments.Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association · 2025Pooled it
- Intervention With Autologous Platelet-Containing Plasma for Immature Atrophic Facial Scars: A Quantitative Case Study.Clinical case reports · 2026Article
- Can parents reliably report burn scar quality on behalf of their child? A clinimetric observational study of child-proxy agreement on the pediatric patient scale of the POSAS.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2026Observational
- Surgical outcomes of dermabrasion followed by split-thickness skin grafting for post-burn leukoderma: a two-center observational study.BMC surgery · 2026Observational
- Translation, Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale Version 3.0 (POSAS 3.0) Into Malay Language for Injury-Related Scar.International wound journal · 2026Article
- Effects of aesthetic suturing on wound healing and scar formation in patients with traffic accident-related injuries.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
- Investigating the Efficacy of Layered Moderate Tension Reduction Suturing in Facial Aesthetic Surgery.Cureus · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: This Delphi study aimed to develop the Observer Scale of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) 3.0 for measurements of scar quality in patients with all types of scars. The POSAS 3.0 Patient Scale has been developed using an extensive qualitative study, which has been published separately. Methods: An online, 3-round Delphi study was performed with 124 international scar experts from 23 countries spanning 7 continents. Panelists rated their (dis)agreement with proposals regarding the wording and relevance of scar characteristics on a 5-point scale ("strongly disagree" to "strongly agree"), and provided arguments for their decisions. Consensus was reached if ≥67% of the panelists agreed or strongly agreed to a proposal. Results: Consensus was reached on the inclusion of 9 items. Two versions of the Observer Scale of the POSAS 3.0 have been developed, 1 generic version including 7 items, and 1 linear scar version, containing the same 7 items and 2 additional scar-specific items. Conclusions: This is the first study using the Delphi process to develop an instrument for the assessment of scars. Panelists from all over the world reached a consensus on the content of 2 versions of the Observer Scale, the generic version and the linear scar version. By involving the potential end-user community of the new POSAS version in its development, we expect the developed instrument to have high content validity. For a comprehensive scar assessment, the Observer Scale should be used in combination with the Patient Scales of the POSAS 3.0.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.