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Reliability of nerve conduction studies among active workers
Author(s) -
Salerno Deborah F.,
Werner Robert A.,
Albers James W.,
Becker Mark P.,
Armstrong Thomas J.,
Franzblau Alfred
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4598(199910)22:10<1372::aid-mus6>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - kappa , intraclass correlation , ulnar nerve , medicine , reliability (semiconductor) , latency (audio) , cohen's kappa , median nerve , audiology , nerve conduction study , mathematics , physical therapy , orthodontics , statistics , surgery , nerve conduction , elbow , computer science , psychometrics , physics , telecommunications , power (physics) , geometry , quantum mechanics
Nerve conduction studies play an important role in clinical practice and research. Given their widespread use, reliability of tests merits careful attention. We assessed interexaminer and intraexaminer reliability of median and ulnar sensory nerve measures of amplitude, onset latency, and peak latency. In a two‐phase cross‐sectional study, two examiners tested 158 workers. Reliability was assessed with intraclass correlations (ICC) and kappa statistics. Median nerve measures were more reliable (ICC range, 0.76 to 0.92) than ulnar measures (ICC range, 0.22 to 0.85). Ulnar‐onset latencies had the worst reliability. The median‐ulnar peak latency difference was a particularly stable measure (ICC range, 0.79 to 0.92). The median‐ulnar peak latency difference had high interexaminer reliability (κ range, 0.71 to 0.79) for normal tests defined by cut points of 0.8 ms and 0.5 ms. Intraexaminer reliability was higher with the 0.8‐ms cut point (κ = 0.90 and κ = 0.85 for examiners 1 and 2, respectively). Rather than absolute cut points to describe normality, a more rational interpretation of results can be made with ordered categories or continuous measures. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 22: 1372–1379, 1999