title: Effects of specific criteria and calibration on examiner reliability.
abstract: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the use of specific criteria and examiner calibration on the reliability of inexperienced examiners on dental sealant evaluations. Dental (N = 8) and dental hygiene (N = 8) students participated as examiners. The study objectives were to identify differences in calibrated and non-calibrated examiners, examiners calibrated by an expert or non-expert, and reliability between dental and dental hygiene student examiners. A criterion-referenced evaluation form was used to evaluate dental sealant end product on 20 teeth, twice by each examiner. Eight of 16 examiners participated in a one-hour calibration session between evaluations. The session consisted of a discussion of operational definitions, the evaluation procedure for dental sealants, and use of the criterion-referenced form. Intra- and interexaminer reliabilities were measured. There were no statistically significant differences (p less than .05) in intraexaminer reliability. Although calibration produced no significant increase in interexaminer reliability, the post-training reliability scores for the group calibrated by an expert decreased, and scores for the group calibrated by a non-expert increased. No significant difference was found in reliability between dental and dental hygiene student examiners.
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Scruggs
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Stoltz
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010808:Physical Examination; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants