Aesthetic satisfaction scoring - introducing an aesthetic numeric analogue scale (ANA-scale)

Abstract

To objectively and reproducibly assess the outcome of aesthetic procedures remains one of the major, unmet challenges in maxillo-facial and plastic surgery. Frequently employed scoring systems for the evaluation of aesthetic procedures are confounded by observer bias, be it that of the patient or of the surgeon. A new approach of pragmatic and simple scoring is the ANA [Aesthetic Numeric Analogue] scale, which facilitates the objective, reproducible, standardized and internationally uniform evaluation of aesthetic procedure outcome by converting all ratings for any kind of aesthetic procedures from a subjective value to an objective figure. The intention of the ANA-scale is to relate aesthetic satisfaction from wording to figures and by this create a rating system. The study is arranging matching pairs of verbal description and figures to finally queue up generating a scale. The clinical feasibility of this rating system is demonstrated in a surgical case. As a detail of the results the influence of the viewer's age to the aesthetic benefit assessment is obvious. In summary the ANA-scale looks to be a tool useful in individual treatment protocols as well as analysis of different techniques of aesthetic surgery for rating of the pure aesthetic satisfaction of the patients.