
@article{ref1,
title="Inter-rater reliability in the medical diagnosis of child sexual abuse",
journal="Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health",
year="1995",
author="Roberts, I. and Moran, Kevin",
volume="31",
number="4",
pages="290-291",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To examine inter- and intra-rater reliability in the assessment of genital findings in cases of suspected child sexual abuse. METHODOLOGY: Colposcopic photographs of the external genitalia of 70 female children were independently assessed by child sexual abuse teams in Auckland and Sydney. For the Auckland centre, intra-rater reliability was assessed by making a second independent assessment 6 months following the first. Reliability was quantified using per cent of agreement and Cohen's Kappa statistic. RESULTS: There were high levels of inter- and intra-rater agreement. When photographs were classified as normal/non specific or strongly indicative of child sexual abuse, there was 93% agreement between the Auckland and Sydney teams with a kappa score of 0.70. For the two separate ratings made by the Auckland team there was 94% agreement with a kappa score of 0.75. CONCLUSIONS: The high levels of inter- and intra-rater agreement obtained in this study were reassuring. The results obtained compare favourably with the results of reliability studies in other areas of medical practice.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1034-4810",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}