Magnetic resonance imaging of the temporomandibular joint: interobserver agreement in subjective classification of disk status.
OBJECTIVE
To determine interobserver agreement in interpretation of magnetic resonance images of the temporomandibular joint by independent observers and to evaluate interobserver agreement within each subjectively assigned category.


METHODS
Sixty magnetic resonance images of adolescent temporomandibular joints were randomly drawn for evaluation by 4 observers who had not previously worked together. All observers independently classified disk position on sagittal magnetic resonance images according to written classification criteria consisting of 6 categories.


RESULTS
Kappa statistics of agreement show moderate agreement among all observers for both medial (95% CI, 0.486-0.622) and lateral (95% CI, 0.450-0.566) components of the joint. Disk displacement without reduction was the category with the greatest agreement among all observers (kappa = 0.914).


CONCLUSIONS
Moderate to substantial observer agreement across all defined categories of disk status may be achieved among a number of observers when standardized classification criteria are used. Interobserver agreement is, however, not uniform across all categories of disk position described.
Nebbe
B
B
Faculty of Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Brooks
S L
SL
Hatcher
D
D
Hollender
L G
LG
Prasad
N G
NG
Major
P W
PW
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019224:Temporomandibular Joint Disc / Q000473:pathology*; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000473:pathology*