Limitations
There are a number of limitations to this review. Steps were taken to
find all relevant papers; however, there remains a potential to miss
suitable articles and exclude certain research due to a lack of English
translation. In addition, a secondary aim was to assess scars impact on
QOL and body image. Factors such as psychological distress and poor QOL
can have a negative impact on patient scar assessment scores, and more
holistic scar questionnaires such as the Patient scar assessment
questionnaire (PSAQ) appear to have a greater correlation with a
patient’s body image. It is unfortunate that most studies only utilised
visual analogue scales or simple dichotomous “patient satisfaction”
questions; and none assessed the impact of scars on the patient’s mental
health.