Premium
Reliability of computer‐assisted retinal vessel measurement in a population
Author(s) -
Sherry Lauren M,
Wang JieJin,
Rochtchina Elena,
Wong TienY,
Klein Ronald,
Hubbard LarryD,
Mitchell Paul
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
clinical and experimental ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.3
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1442-9071
pISSN - 1442-6404
DOI - 10.1046/j.1442-9071.2002.00520.x
Subject(s) - kappa , retinal , medicine , population , reliability (semiconductor) , ophthalmology , cohen's kappa , optometry , statistics , mathematics , geometry , power (physics) , physics , environmental health , quantum mechanics
The purpose of the study was to assess the intergrader and intragrader reliability of computer‐assisted retinal vessel diameter measurement in a defined, community‐based population. Retinal photographs from participants in the Blue Mountains Eye Study were digitized using standard techniques. A grader identified all retinal vessels located 0.5−1.0 disc diameter from the optic disc margin, and a computer program measured the width of these vessels. Intergrader and intragrader reliability was assessed on a random subsample of 184 and 97 images, respectively, using quadratic weighted kappa (κ) and correlation analysis (R 2 ). Intergrader reliabilitywas high for summary indices of retinal arteriolar (κ = 0.85, R 2 = 0.88)and venular (κ = 0.90, R 2 = 0.90)diameters, and their ratio, the arteriole‐to‐venule ratio (κ = 0.75, R 2 = 0.79). Intragrader reliability was also high, with kappa values ranging from 0.80 to 0.93 and from 0.80 to 0.92 for graders 1 and 2, respectively. It is concluded that the retinal vessel diameters could be reliably measured using computer‐assisted software and may be used for population‐based research.