RELIABILITY OF SKIN INVOLVEMENT MEASURES IN SCLERODERMA

摘要: Two methods have been proposed to quantify the extent of skin involvement in scleroderma. These are (1) a scoring system which quantifies and summates this severity rating 17 areas surface (2) method estimating percentage using shaded manikin. We report on study comparing inter-observer reliability these two approaches ratings six clinicians 12 patients. Systematic bias between observers was noted with both methods, but agreement, as-assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), higher score method. The manikin resulted greater degree disagreement observers, as well amount random error, reflecting difficulty defining bounds abnormal skin. Despite presence bias, is preferred for assessing level involvement.