The measurement of interexaminer agreement on periodontal disease

Abstract

The statistic kappa is presented as a more appropriate measure of interexaminer agreement than simple percentage agreement scores, because it incorporates an adjustment for the degree of agreement to be expected purely on the basis of chance. When applied to data from an interexaminer reliability study of six variables measuring periodontal pathology, the kappa statistic confirmed and strengthened many of the conclusions drawn in the original paper. In addition, thanks to the use of kappa in the study of other variables, comparisons were possible with the degree of interexaminer agreement attained in clinical medicine and in dental caries.