Assessment of Methods and Attributes Used to Characterize Skin Quality: A Systematic Literature Review

Skin quality is an aggregate term encompassing a broad range of skin attributes that convey its overall look, feel, and health.

To assess consistency in definitions and treatment outcomes for various skin quality attributes.

We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase to perform 2 systematic reviews. The initial search identified published articles (January 1, 2000-October 13, 2021) and abstracts (January 1, 2019-October 13, 2021) that used an objective or subjective instrument to assess skin quality at ≥2 timepoints. A supplemental search of meta-analyses published from 2010 to May 2024 was conducted to evaluate treatment outcomes for each skin quality attribute.

The initial search included 903 studies comprising 4,668 individual observations. Subjective end points comprised 87% of observations. Substantial inconsistencies were identified in the definition of individual skin quality attributes across studies, with multiple definitions in use in the literature for each attribute (range, 7-17) and no clear consensus.

This extensive review of the current state of the aesthetic medicine literature revealed an absence of consensus definitions for skin quality attributes, which poses a barrier to comparative evaluation of treatment options and could affect physician recommendations, potentially with downstream effects on patient outcomes.