Interobserver and intraobserver reliability of a classification scheme for corneal topographic patterns
- aCornea-Genetic Eye Medical Clinic, Cedars Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles, California, USA, bDivision of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, cDivision of Optometry, Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, dMedical Genetics Birth Defects Center, Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, eDepartment of Pediatrics and Departments of Ophthalmology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
- 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 18 June 1998
Abstract
AIMS To determine the interobserver and the intraobserver reliability of a published classification scheme for corneal topography in normal subjects using the absolute scale.
METHOD A prospective observational study was done in which 195 TMS-1 corneal topography maps in the absolute scale were independently classified twice by three classifiers—a 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.
RESULTS For 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.
CONCLUSION This 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.
