title: [Evaluation of consistency of tongue and pulse signs observed by traditional Chinese medicine clinicians].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the consistency of tongue manifestation and pulse condition observed by traditional Chinese medicine clinicians.
  
  
  METHODS
  Field investigation and direct inquiry were performed in the study. Two physicians from the same department judged tongue manifestation and pulse condition independently. The consistency among observers was assessed by means of Kappa statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 55 patients were included in the study. There were 13 inconsistent cases (23.6%) in tongue body observation and 7 cases (12.7%) in form of the tongue observation. The observation consistency of tongue body (Kappa=0.649) and form of the tongue (Kappa=0.752) were good. There were 24 inconsistent cases (43.6%) in tongue fur observation, the consistency of which was moderate (Kappa=0.525). There were 22 inconsistent cases (40%) in pulse condition diagnosis, the diagnosis consistency of which was also moderate (Kappa=0.562).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Observation and diagnosis consistency of tongue manifestation and pulse condition were moderately the same between different clinicians. By analyzing the reasons of inconsistency, it is necessary to improve the consistency in three aspects, such as the detailed-oriented criterion, the attitude of researchers and better training of researchers.
authors.affiliation: the Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ze-huai
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Wei-xiong
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Wei-hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Su-yun
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xue-qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Hai-feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011674:Pulse; D014059:Tongue