BACKGROUND The Cochrane risk of bias tool is commonly criticized for having a low reliability. We aimed to investigate whether training of raters, with objective and standardized instructions on how to assess risk of bias, can improve the reliability of the Cochrane risk of bias tool. METHODS In this pilot study, four raters inexperienced in risk of bias assessment were randomly allocated to ...

There have been few studies that evaluate the reliability of the clinical use of pulse diagnosis despite it being a fundamental part of Oriental medicine diagnostics. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of practitioners using an operationally defined method, Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (CCPD), to evaluate the radial pulse o...

The interobserver agreement for the diagnosis of a cerebral transient ischemic attack (TIA) was investigated in a pool of eight senior and interested neurologists from the same department. They interviewed 56 patients in alternating pairs. The diagnosis was based on internationally accepted criteria. The agreement rates were corrected for chance (kappa statistics). Both neurologists agreed that...

The interobserver agreement for the diagnosis of a cerebral transient ischemic attack (TIA) was investigated in a pool of eight senior and interested neurologists from the same department. They interviewed 56 patients in alternating pairs. The diagnosis was based on internationally accepted criteria. The agreement rates were corrected for chance (kappa statistics). Both neurologists agreed that...

OBJECTIVES To examine the use of the multi-rater Kappa measure of agreement (Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences, McGraw Hill, New York, 1988) in team based, mixed method, qualitative nursing research. DESIGN The article presents an illustrative description of the application of the qualitative coding procedure and associated multi-rater Kappa measurement at four time points...

objective: this study compares the center for disease control (cdc) and international obesity task force (iotf) references in assessment of overweight and obesity among iranian adolescents. methods: the data of this study was drawn from a cross sectional study of a representative sample of 1200 adolescents aged 12‑17 years in babol, northern iran. a standard procedure was used to measure height...

We compared syndromic categorization of chief complaint and discharge diagnosis for 3,919 emergency department visits to two hospitals in the U.S. National Capitol Region. Agreement between chief complaint and discharge diagnosis was good overall (kappa=0.639), but neurologic and sepsis syndromes had markedly lower agreement than other syndromes (kappa statistics 0.085 and 0.105, respectively).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of the study is to compare the reliability of the Barthel activities of daily living score, which assesses disability, with the Rankin scale, which assesses handicap, and to determine their mutual agreement. METHODS Fifty patients with stroke of varying severity were identified by a community-based stroke register and interviewed by two of three research nur...

BACKGROUND Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is considered the mainstay imaging investigation in patients suspected of lumbar disc herniations. Both imaging and clinical findings determine the final decision of surgery. The objective of this study was to assess MRI observer variation in patients with sciatica who are potential candidates for lumbar disc surgery. METHODS Patients for this study...

OBJECTIVE To examine the validity of beachgoers' self-reported sun protection and UV exposure using objective measures. DESIGN Eighty-eight participants completed a brief survey when they arrived at the beach; their skin was swabbed for the presence of sunscreen, while an observer recorded their clothing worn to the beach and the presence of sunburn. On leaving the beach, an exit survey detai...