Translation and psychometric validation of the Finnish version of the Patient Scar Assessment Scale for use in patients with burn scars

Background: The aim of this study was to create a Finnish scar assessment scale by translating and evaluating the psychometric properties of the Patient Scar Assessment Scale (PSAS), a part of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), with burn patients to enable its use in burn care. Methods: The translation process followed international guidelines with forward and backward translations and cognitive debriefing with patients. Psychometric validation was performed with adult patients with burns who had been treated at the Helsinki Burn Centre between 2006 and 2017 with skin grafting following the excision of deep second- or third-degree burns. To ensure reproducibility, the PSAS was sent to the study participants twice. The correlation between the PSAS and health-related quality of life (HRQL) was also tested. Results: In total, 192 patients, of whom 71 % were male, participated in this study. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 57 (17) years. The internal consistency of the PSAS was good, Cronbach's α 0.89 (95 % CI: 0.86–0.91). The reproducibility was also good concerning all items and the total score, ICC from 0.77 to 0.89. As expected, the total PSAS score correlated negatively with HRQL. Conclusion: The PSAS was successfully translated and culturally adapted into Finnish and the newly translated version has good validity and reproducibility for assessing mature burn scars.