Assessing skin pigmentation in epidemiological studies: The reliability of measurements under different conditions

作者：Uter W^*; Benz M; Mayr A; Gefeller O; Pfahlberg A

来源：Skin Research and Technology, 2013, 19(2): 100-106.

DOI：10.1111/srt.12013

• skin pigmentation
• chromameter
• reflectometer
• reproducibility

Background/purpose Different devices are used for the non-invasive measurement of (constitutive) skin pigmentation in (epidemiological) studies. Reproducibility of measurements with the Chromameter (CM, model CR 300, Minolta, Osaka) and the Reflectometer (RM, Courage %26 Khazaka, Cologne) has not yet been examined in detail and was addressed in a set of four experiments and studies respectively. Methods Regarding the CM, the Y value of the Yxy CIE 1931 colour system was utilized, representing lightness in this colour space, while the RM measured reflectance at 660nm with a small bandwidth of 20nm. Both devices measure reflectance on a scale from 0 to 100%, however, in different wavelength ranges. Between 3 and 20 repetitions were performed on standard grey scales and different sets of human volunteers, including RM measurements in a large epidemiological field study. Results While the coefficient of variation (V) increases and the intraclass correlation coefficient decreases from controlled laboratory to field conditions, reproducibility remained in a range considered acceptable, if adequate study conditions were maintained. In a direct comparison on human skin, V of the RM was significantly smaller than that of the CM. Conclusion Both devices can be used confidently in field studies; however, based on considerations of skin optics and in view of slightly lesser variability, the RM may be preferable.

• 出版日期2013-5