Open AccessIntra and Inter-Observer Variability of Transformation Zone Assessment in Colposcopy: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study
Author(s) -
Elizabeth Vallikad,
Premalatha T. Siddartha,
Kiran Abhijit Kulkarni,
Céline Firtion,
Payal Keswarpu,
Pallavi Vajinepalli,
S.K. Naik,
Lovi Gupta
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of clinical and diagnostic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2249-782X
pISSN - 0973-709X
DOI - 10.7860/jcdr/2017/21943.9168
Subject(s) - colposcopy , medicine , observer (physics) , kappa , cohen's kappa , visibility , cervical cancer , statistics , cancer , mathematics , physics , quantum mechanics , optics , geometry
Colposcopy is an important tool in the diagnosis of cervical precancer and early cancer. The assessment of women with abnormal cytology and selection of those who require further therapy or follow up depends on the colposcopic assessment of the Transformation Zone (TZ). Identification of the TZ is thus an important part of this examination. Intra and inter-observer variability is known to be relatively high in the colposcopic interpretation of abnormal features. However, there are hardly any studies on the observer variability in the assessment of the type of TZ.