title: The interrater reliability of physical signs in patients with eating disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the interrater reliability of five common signs of eating disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eating disorder patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorders not otherwise specified (ED-NOS), at various stages of recovery, were evaluated for the presence or absence of lanugo hair, acrocyanosis, parotid hypertrophy, hypercarotinemia, and Russell's sign. Patients were examined by two physicians with similar experience and training. Results are analyzed for reliability using the kappa statistic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Kappa scores were as follows, indicating marginal reproducibility of results: lanugo hair (kappa = 0.606), acrocyanosis (kappa = 0.014), parotid hypertrophy (kappa = 0.266), hypercarotinemia (kappa = 0.101) , and Russell's sign (kappa = 0.140).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The interrater reliability for individual items ranged from poor to moderate. Overall, there is marginal interrater reliability for the five common signs of eating disorders assessed.
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tyler
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Birmingham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003490:Cyanosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010305:Parotid Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D010808:Physical Examination; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D019207:beta Carotene