Clinimetric properties of a translated and culturally adapted Norwegian version of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale for use in clinical practice and research.

Purpose: To translate and culturally adapt the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale, POSAS, to Norwegian and explore its test-retest, intra- and inter-tester reliability.

Methods: POSAS was translated into Norwegian following international guidelines in collaboration with an international translation bureau. Twenty-six adults and 24 children were recruited from a burns outpatient clinic. Three observer-categories: doctor, nurse and physiotherapist, assessed the patients' scars and scored the Observer scale for estimating inter-tester reliability. Photos of the scars were taken and used to score the Observer scale a second time for examining intra-tester reliability. The patients or parents/next of kin rated their scar on the Patient scale at the clinic and after two days at home for examining test-retest reliability. Intraclass correlation (ICC) and Kappa were used for statistical analysis.

Results: A Norwegian version of POSAS (POSAS-NV) was developed. Inter-tester ICC of the Observer parameters varied between 0.203 and 0.728, and for the total sum score, ICC=0.528 (0.280-0.708). Intra-tester ICC of the Observer scale ranged between 0.575 and 0.858. The Patient scale demonstrated high test-retest reliability.

Conclusions: Intra-tester reliability of the Observer scale and test-retest reliability of the Patient scale of POSAS-NV were found satisfactory, but not inter-tester reliability of the Observer scale.