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Inter‐ and intra‐rater concordance in estimating height and its components using photographic images in Guatemalan children from the Western Highlands
Author(s) -
Orozco Mónica N.,
Beintema Joni Jade Serena,
GarcíaMeza Rosario,
Gwaltney Rebecca,
Rolker Heike B.,
Doak Colleen M.,
Solomons Noel W
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.890.4
Subject(s) - inter rater reliability , trunk , concordance , mathematics , limits of agreement , reliability (semiconductor) , gold standard (test) , statistics , orthodontics , nuclear medicine , medicine , physics , biology , ecology , power (physics) , rating scale , quantum mechanics
Background Photographic imaging may be used to assess height and its components (legs and trunk) in an accurate way. Nonetheless, inter‐ and intra‐rater variations represent a potential source of error in this novel method. Objective To determine the inter‐and intra‐rater reliability when using photographic imaging for the estimation of total length (TL), leg length (LL) and the trunk‐to‐leg ratio (TLR) in preschool children from the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Methods Photographs from 247 preschool children aged 4–7 y were taken from a 3‐m distance with the child standing sideways in front of a color‐coded metric ruler and looking forward with a Frankfort plane gaze. TL and LL were estimated from paper printouts, measured to the nearest mm, and both served to calculate TLR. Height was compared to the gold standard stadiometer. Image‐derived TL and LL were measured on 3 different occasions by the same researcher (R1) for intra‐rater correspondence and by 2 other researchers (R2 & R3) for inter‐rater reliability assessment. Results The mean measured height and estimated photo height were 109.7±0.46 cm (stadiometer) and 109.9±0.45 cm (photo).Mean TL and LL were 228±1.0 mm and 128±0.7mm, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficients for intra‐rater reliability for TL, LL and TLR on all 3 occasions were consistently higher than 0.9 (p<0.05); and for inter‐rater reliability these values were 0.997, 0.996 & 0.974, (R1 vs. R2), 0.997, 0.996 & 0.979 (R1 vs. R3), and 0.999, 0.997 & 0.982 (R2 vs. R3) (p<0.05). Conclusion The results from this study highlight strong inter‐ and intra‐rater concordances for height and body components derived from photographic imaging, which makes this innovative method a promising tool for growth studies in humans.