In search of a universal and objective method to assess facial aging: The new face objective photo-numerical assessment scale

Most patients who undergo cosmetic rejuvenation treatment hope to appear younger and healthier. Although a number of scales have been put forward to assess facial aging, to date none has focused on predicting patients’ age. The purpose of our study was to validate a more complete version of the face - Objective assessment scale previously developed by the authors. Since patients with a photo-damaged skin can look older than others we created a new sub-scale: the facial photo-aging scale, in order to provide a more comprehensive method for the overall assessment of facial aging. The Rasch model was used as part of the validation process. We assigned a score to each patient based on the scales we have developed. The correlation between a patient's actual age and the obtained scores was analyzed; we also analyzed the inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability. All the scales exceeded criteria for acceptability, reliability and validity. The facial aging scale we have developed may prove to be a valuable tool to assess patients before and after facial rejuvenation treatment or surgery, as well as for clinical research in the field of facial skin regeneration.