POSAS Patient Scale (Scar Assessment)
POSAS Patient Scale (Draaijers 2004; v2.0 van de Kar 2005): the patient-rated half of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Pain in the scar
- 2
- Itch in the scar
- 3
- Color difference
- 5
- Pliability or stiffness
- 4
- Thickness difference
- 4
- Relief or irregularity
- 3
- Overall opinion
- 5
Result: POSAS Patient total 21 of 60 (overall opinion 5/10) — higher is worse (6 = like normal skin).
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Overall opinion
- A seventh item on the same 1-10 scale, recorded separately and NOT part of the total.
- Why this half
- Pain and itch can only be rated by the patient. Report it alongside the observer scale, not instead of it.
- Use
- No fixed cut-points; 6 = like normal skin, higher = worse. Best for tracking change over time.
What you enter
- Pain in the scar (1-10)
- Itch in the scar (1-10)
- Color difference (1-10)
- Pliability or stiffness (1-10)
- Thickness difference (1-10)
- Relief or irregularity (1-10)
- Overall opinion (1-10, not in total)
How this is calculated
- Items
- pain, itch, color, pliability, thickness, relief - each 1 (not at all / like normal skin) to 10 (very much / worst). Total = sum, 6-60.
Draaijers LJ, Tempelman FR, Botman YA, et al. The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale: a reliable and feasible tool for scar evaluation. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004;113(7):1960-1965. Version 2.0: van de Kar AL, Corion LU, Smeulders MJ, et al. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2005;116(2):514-522. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.