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In Search of the Holy Grail

Arch Dermatol. 2003;139:1490-1492.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

THERE ARE now almost as many scales for measuring atopic dermatitis (AD) as there are randomized trials.^1-2 Most of the 56 modified or unnamed scales in use have not been tested at all, and in many instances, the word valid when used in reports referencing a scale simply means "used before."³ The current situation is analogous to the Tower of Babel: scores of investigators over the world, each using his or her own favorite modified scale, yet unable to understand each other because they do not speak a common language. I am tempted to call for a moratorium on all new AD scales until we (clinicians, patients, and industry and drug regulators) have adequately assessed the ones that are already in existence.¹ Such an exercise might help us to agree on 1 or 2 measures that could be used as standards in all future studies, just as our colleagues in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

1. HOW WELL HAS THE OSAAD SCORE BEEN TESTED?

Has Content Validity Been Established for the OSAAD Score?

Has Construct Validity Been Tested?

Has Criterion Validity Been Established?

Has Within- and Between-Observer Reliability Been Tested?

Is There Internal Consistency for the OSAAD Scale Items?

How Sensitive to Change Is the New Scale?

Is the New Instrument Acceptable to Patients, and Is It Easy to Administer?

2. WHAT IS THE CLINICAL UTILITY OF THE NEW SCALE?

THE BOTTOM LINE
Hywel Williams, MSc, PhD, FRCP
Centre of Evidence-Based Dermatology
Queen's Medical Centre
Nottingham NG7 2UH, England
(e-mail: hywel.williams@nottingham.ac.uk)

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The Objective Severity Assessment of Atopic Dermatitis Score: An Objective Measure Using Permeability Barrier Function and Stratum Corneum Hydration With Computer-Assisted Estimates for Extent of Disease
Jeffrey L. Sugarman, Joachim W. Fluhr, Ashley J. Fowler, Thomas Bruckner, Thomas L. Diepgen, and Mary L. Williams
Arch Dermatol. 2003;139(11):1417-1422.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

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Atopic Dermatitis
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