Interobserver and intraobserver reliability of a classification scheme for corneal topographic patterns
a Cornea-Genetic Eye Medical Clinic, Cedars
Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles, California, USA, b Division of Ophthalmology, Department
of Surgery, Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical
Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, c Division of Optometry, Burns and Allen Research
Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, d Medical Genetics Birth Defects
Center, Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical
Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, e Department of Pediatrics and
Departments of Ophthalmology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles,
California, USA
Correspondence to: Dr Yaron S Rabinowitz, Cornea-Genetic Eye Medical Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mark Goodson Building, Suite 1102, 444 South San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, CA 90048, USA.
Accepted for publication 18 June 1998
AIMS
To determine the interobserver and the
intraobserver reliability of a published classification scheme for
corneal topography in normal subjects using the absolute scale.
METHODA prospective observational study was done
in which 195 TMS-1 corneal topography maps in the absolute scale were
independently classified twice by three classifiersa cornea fellow,
an ophthalmic technician, and an optometrist. From these
observations the interobserver reliability for each category and the
intraobserver reliability for each observer were determined in terms of
the median weighted kappa statistic for each category and for each observer.
RESULTSFor interobserver reliability, the median
weighted kappa statistic for each category varied from 0.72 to 0.97 and
for intraobserver reliability the range was 0.79 to 0.98.
CONCLUSIONThis classification scheme is extremely
robust and even in the hands of less experienced observers with minimal
training it can be relied upon to provide consistent results.
© 1998 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
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