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Measuring the severity of infantile hemangiomas: instrument development and reliability. Arch Dermatol 2012 Feb;148(2):197-202

Date

02/22/2012

Pubmed ID

22351819

DOI

10.1001/archdermatol.2011.926

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84857383984 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   49 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To develop instruments that measure the severity of infantile hemangiomas (Hemangioma Severity Scale [HSS]) and the complications of infantile hemangiomas for longitudinal use (Hemangioma Dynamic Complication Scale [HDCS]).

DESIGN: Instrument development and reliability study.

SETTING: Academic research.

PARTICIPANTS: The HSS and the HDCS were developed through the collaborative effort of members of the Hemangioma Investigator Group Research Core, an expert multi-institutional research group. After development of the scales, 13 pediatric dermatologists used the HSS to score 20 different hemangiomas. In addition, 12 pediatric dermatologists used the HDCS to score hemangioma-related complications for 24 clinical scenarios. Interrater and intrarater reliability was measured for both scales.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Interrater and intrarater reliability.

RESULTS: For the HSS, interrater reliability and intrarater reliability exceeded 99%. Similarly, the HDCS had a high rate of interrater agreement; for individual items, agreement among raters was 67% to 100%, with most clinical scenarios demonstrating greater than 90% agreement. Intrarater reliability was excellent for all individual items of the HDCS.

CONCLUSION: The HSS and the HDCS are reliable scales that can be used to measure the severity of infantile hemangiomas, including the severity of complications for longitudinal use.

Author List

Haggstrom AN, Beaumont JL, Lai JS, Adams DM, Drolet BA, Frieden IJ, Garzon MC, Holland KE, Horii KA, Lucky AW, Mancini AJ, Metry DW, Morel KD, Newell BD, Nopper AJ, Siegel D, Swigonski NL, Cella D, Chamlin SL

Author

Kristen E. Holland MD Associate Professor in the Dermatology department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Dermatology
Hemangioma
Humans
Infant
Observer Variation
Reproducibility of Results
Severity of Illness Index
Skin Neoplasms