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- Title
Interobserver Reliability of Pulse Diagnosis Using Traditional Korean Medicine for Stroke Patients.
- Authors
Ko, Mi Mi; Park, Tae-Yong; Lee, Ju Ah; Choi, Tae-Young; Kang, Byoung-Kab; Lee, Myeong Soo
- Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability between observers with regard to pulse signs that are observed by Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) clinicians. Methods: A total 658 patients with stroke who were admitted into Oriental medical university hospitals from February 2010 through December 2010 were included in this study. Each patient was seen independently by 2 experts from the same department for an examination of the pulse signs. Interobserver reliability was measured using three methods: simple percentage agreement, the κ value, and the AC1 statistic. Results: The κ value indicated that the interobserver reliability in evaluating the pulse signs of the subjects ranged from poor to moderate, whereas the AC1 analysis revealed that agreement between the 2 experts was generally high (with the exception of slippery pulse). The κ value indicated that the interobserver reliability for assessing subjects who garnered the same opinion between the raters was generally moderate to good (with the exceptions of rough pulse and sunken pulse) and that the AC1 measure of agreement between the 2 experts was generally high. Conclusions: Pulse diagnosis is regarded as one of the most important procedures in TKM, despite the aforementioned limitations. This study reveals that the interobserver reliability in making a pulse diagnosis in stroke patients is not particularly high when objectively quantified. Additional research is needed to help reduce this lack of reliability for various portions of the pulse diagnosis.
- Subjects
SOUTH Korea; KOREA; PULSE diagnosis; STROKE diagnosis; ACADEMIC medical centers; ALTERNATIVE medicine; CONFIDENCE intervals; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; PULSE (Heart beat); RESEARCH; RESEARCH funding; STATISTICS; TRADITIONAL medicine; INTER-observer reliability; RESEARCH methodology evaluation; DATA analysis software; STROKE patients; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 2013, Vol 19, Issue 1, p29
- ISSN
1075-5535
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1089/acm.2011.0612