Clinimetric analysis of recently applied quantitative tools in evaluation of vitiligo treatment

ABSTRACT

Background: Vitiligo affects about 1% of the world's population, however, there is currently no universally used standardized measure to assess its response to treatment. Objective: To find the most effective technique for the quantitative assessment of therapeutic results in vitiligo patients. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in three stages (1) Conducting an adapted Delphi survey to check current dermatologists' attitudes regarding the topic of study. (2) Conducting a pilot study that involves testing the selected digital image analysis software in the laboratory to validate future tasks. (3) The chief clinimetric study that implicates selecting actual vitiligo lesion models and evaluating them. Results: Regarding the surface area measuring techniques, the most accurate results were gained through the digital image analysis for surface area, followed by point-counting technique. The digital image analysis for color measurement was accurate and reliable in getting a percentage representation of color improvement within the vitiligo lesions, in response to therapy. Limitations: Many dermatologists lack understanding of basic concepts about imaging techniques. The study does not include a traditional assessment method such as vitiligo area scoring index. Conclusion: Our designated digital image analysis technique was able to efficiently assess the changes that occur both on surface area and the color of vitiligo lesions in response to therapy.