Abstract
To the Editor: There is a need for valid, reliable, and interpretable measurement instruments in vitiligo research.1 The Vitiligo Extent Score (VES) and Self-Assessment Vitiligo Extent Score (SA-VES) are validated, feasible, and user friendly measurement instruments assessing vitiligo extent.2,3 However, the minimal important change (MIC) of these instruments is not known—MIC is the smallest change in scores that patients (/clinicians) perceive as important.4 The MIC is a key element of interpretability of measurement instruments and is an important parameter in studies for determining the number of responders.
Highlights
The MIC for the VES (0.5%) is somewhat lower compared with the smallest detectable change (SDC; change in outcome that could be due to measurement error) found in 2 previous studies, which were already very low.[2,5] For the SA-VES, we found a smaller MIC (0.2% BSA) compared with the SDC of 3.23%
Future studies should aim to assess the MIC and SDC within the same patient population, including different ethnicities, to provide more representative results and could focus on further optimizations to reduce the SDC to become smaller than the MIC.[5]
Our results improve the interpretability of these measurement instruments and can be used to determine number of responders in future studies using the VES and SA-VES as outcome instruments
Summary
The MIC for the VES (0.5%) is somewhat lower compared with the smallest detectable change (SDC; change in outcome that could be due to measurement error) found in 2 previous studies, which were already very low (between 0.86% and 4.7%).[2,5] For the SA-VES, we found a smaller MIC (0.2% BSA) compared with the ( low) SDC of 3.23%. General characteristics Age ( y) Gender Female Male Skin type I II III IV V VI VES score at T0 SA-VES score at T0
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