Interobserver agreement in the interpretation of outpatient head CT scans in an academic neuroradiology practice.
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol
; 36(1): 24-9, 2015 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25059693
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
The repeatability of head CT interpretations may be studied in different contexts in peer-review quality assurance interventions or in interobserver agreement studies. We assessed the agreement between double-blind reports of outpatient CT scans in a routine academic practice. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
Outpatient head CT scans (119 patients) were randomly selected to be read twice in a blinded fashion by 8 neuroradiologists practicing in an academic institution during 1 year. Nonstandardized reports were analyzed to extract 4 items (answer to the clinical question, major findings, incidental findings, recommendations for further investigations) from each report, to identify agreement or discrepancies (classified as class 2 [mentioned or not mentioned or contradictions between reports], class 1 [mentioned in both reports but diverging in location or severity], 0 [concordant], or not applicable), according to a standardized data-extraction form. Agreement regarding the presence or absence of clinically significant or incidental findings was studied with κ statistics.RESULTS:
The interobserver agreement regarding head CT studies with positive and negative results for clinically pertinent findings was 0.86 (0.77-0.95), but concordance was only 75.6% (67.2%-82.5%). Class 2 discrepancy was found in 15.1%; class 1 discrepancy, in 9.2% of cases. The κ value for reporting incidental findings was 0.59 (0.45-0.74), with class 2 discrepancy in 29.4% of cases. Most discrepancies did not impact the clinical management of patients.CONCLUSIONS:
Discrepancies in double-blind interpretations of head CT examinations were more common than reported in peer-review quality assurance programs.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Encefalopatías
/
Neurología
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
/
Guideline
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol
Año:
2015
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá