A multidisciplinary group of international researchers has proposed a new objective scale for describing the range of human skin colours, in research published in the British Journal of Dermatology. Currently, there is no standard approach to describing skin colours.

Named after the most common pigment found in skin, the Eumelanin Human Skin Colour Scale is a 5-point scale which can be used to describe the full spectrum of possible human skin colours. The scale was developed by members of the British Association of Dermatologists Lexicon Group, which was set up to improve how skin is described by researchers and healthcare professionals.

The scale is based on published data for a measurement called the melanin index and is calculated by measuring the amount of light reflected from the skin. Different skin colours will reflect different amounts of light, with lighter skin colours reflecting more and darker skin colours reflecting less.

Using this existing published data, the researchers were able to define the known range of the melanin index and divide this into five sections:

Eumelanin Low
Eumelanin Intermediate Low
Eumelanin Intermediate
Eumelanin Intermediate High
Eumelanin High

The benefits of a standardised approach to describing skin colours include:

Making it easier to analyse and compare studies where skin colour is an important variable
Making it possible to talk precisely about diseases which are more common or more severe in people with different skin colours
Giving researchers more tools to spot underrepresentation in research
Replacing imprecise or subjective approaches to describing skin colour which are not truly representative of the broad range of human skin tones

Currently, the most commonly used scale to describe skin colour is the Fitzpatrick Scale. The Fitzpatrick Scale was developed to describe how human skin reacts to sunlight and initially only described lightly pigmented skin; it was not developed as a scale for describing skin colour. Because of this, the scale underrepresents darker skin colours and has led to a lack of recognition for the diversity of darker skin tones. Another limitation of the Fitzpatrick Scale is that it is based on subjective criteria, such as perceived skin tone.

Dr Ophelia Dadzie, Chair of the British Association of Dermatologist’s Lexicon Group, said:

“For a long time, healthcare professionals and researchers have been missing a simple tool in their toolboxes; an evidence-based approach to describing skin colour. There are often instances in research and in medicine where skin colour, rather than say ethnicity, is an important variable. Being able to objectively describe this feature will help us talk more accurately about who diseases impact, will help us analyse and compare research more easily, and enable us to spot underrepresentation more clearly.

“An important thing that we would like to emphasise is that this is not a replacement for talking about ethnicity, or any other characteristic. Where ethnicity is the relevant factor, then skin colour should not be used as euphemism for this, and vice-versa.

“When developing this scale, we thought long and hard about the language we used. Our work looking at the skin descriptors had made us aware that sometimes the terminology used to describe skin tones can come with subtle connotations or assumptions. Where possible we have tried to avoid this by adopting neutral language which reflects the level of the most prominent and universal pigment in human skin, eumelanin.”

Dr Tanya Bleiker, President of the British Association of Dermatologists, said:

“I have no doubt that the Eumelanin scale will have a hugely positive impact on research and healthcare. Describing skin objectively can be a challenge. Patients, healthcare professionals, and researchers will benefit from this standardised approach to describing skin colours.

“We know that there are often representation issues in research. While much can be done by individual researchers and organisations, having the right tools to describe variations in skin colour is an important step in the right direction.”

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Notes to Editors

For more information, please contact the media team: comms@bad.org.uk

Study Information

The Eumelanin Human Skin Colour Scale: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Ophelia E Dadzie ^{1 2}, Rick A Sturm ³, Damilola Fajuyigbe ⁴, Antoine Petit ⁵, Nina G Jablonski ⁶

¹Department of Dermatology, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Uxbridge, UK.

²Department of Cellular Pathology, Northwest London Pathology, imperial College London NHS Trust, London, UK.

³Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia.

⁴Medical Directorate, L’Oréal Research and Innovation, Clichy, France.

⁵Service de Dermatologie, APHP Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France.

⁶Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, Sate College, Pennsylvania, USA.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjd.21277

DOI: 10.1111/bjd.21277

About the BAD

The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) is the professional membership body for dermatologists in the UK. Founded in 1920, the BAD is a registered charity representing over 2,400 members, dedicated to medical education, professional practice and standards, and research in dermatology.

For further information about the charity, visit www.bad.org.uk.

About the BJD

The British Journal of Dermatology (BJD) is a top-ranked international dermatology journal, publishing the highest-quality research to advance the understanding and management of skin disease to improve patient outcomes. The BJD is one of the journals of the British Association of Dermatologists, the professional membership body for dermatologists in the UK.