Statistical measures are described that are used in diagnostic imaging for expressing observer agreement in regard to categorical data. The measures are used to characterize the reliability of imaging methods and the reproducibility of disease classifications and, occasionally with great care, as the surrogate for accuracy. The review concentrates on the chance-corrected indices, kappa and weig...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Many children with acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) present to the emergency ward with concurrent wheezing. A chest x-ray is often requested to rule out pneumonia. We assessed inter-observer agreement in interpreting x-rays on such children. DESIGNS AND SETTING: Prospective consecutive case study at Instituto de Salud del Niño, Lima, Peru. METHODS Chest x-...

STUDY QUESTION What is the inter-/intra-observer agreement and diagnostic accuracy among gynaecological and non-gynaecological ultrasound specialists in the prediction of pouch of Douglas (POD) obliteration (secondary to endometriosis) at offline analysis of two-dimensional videos using the dynamic real-time transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) 'sliding sign' technique? SUMMARY ANSWER The inter-/int...

The reliability of the Catterall grouping of Perthes' disease was examined by determining the agreement between pairs of observers using weighted kappa statistics. Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of 100 hip joints were grouped independently by four experienced observers. There was a low, and in our opinion, unacceptable degree of inter-observer agreement even when Groups 2 and 3 were co...

BACKGROUND The ventilatory threshold (VT) is usually determined by visual assessment of the point where the rate of elimination of carbon dioxide (VCO(2)) increases nonlinearly with respect to oxygen uptake (VO(2)) (the V-Slope method). We quantified the reliability of VT determination using data from a multicenter study in patients with heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS The Fix-Heart Failur...

BACKGROUND We recently reported poor inter-observer agreement in identifying and quantifying individual ultrasonographic features of polycystic ovaries. Our objective was to determine the effect of a training workshop on reducing inter-observer variation in the ultrasonographic evaluation of polycystic ovaries. METHODS Transvaginal ultrasound recordings from thirty women with polycystic ovary...

BACKGROUND The Back Pain Cohort of Southern Denmark (BaPa Cohort) was initiated with the aim of evaluating the clinical relevance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of early spondyloarthritis (SpA). In order to facilitate the collection of MRI data for this study, an electronic evaluation form was developed including both SpA-related and degenerative axial changes. The objecti...

INTRODUCTION There is limited evidence regarding intra-observer and inter-observer variations in echocardiographic measurements of diastolic function. This study aimed to assess this reproducibly within a population-based cohort study. METHODS Sixty subjects in sinus rhythm were randomly selected among 4th visit participants of the STANISLAS Cohort (Lorraine region, France). This 4th examinat...

Previous observational measures of healthcare worker (HCW) hand-hygiene behaviour (HHB) fail to provide adequate standard operating procedures (SOPs), accounts of inter-rater agreement testing or evidence of sensitivity to change. This study reports the development of an observational tool in a way that addresses these deficiencies. Observational categories were developed systematically, guided...