title: Inter- and intraobserver reliability of the hand-held monitor for measuring salivary alpha-amylase level.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alpha-amylase levels can be used to quantify the psychological stress. A hand-held salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) monitor was recently developed for measuring sAA levels. This study investigated the inter- and intraobserver reliability of this novel instrument.
  
  
  METHODS
  Saliva was collected from 32 healthy volunteers. To determine the interobserver reliability, three observers measured the sAA levels in 10 samples. To determine the intraobserver reliability, one observer performed consecutive sAA measurements in 32 samples. The sAA levels in these 32 samples were also measured by a conventional laboratory enzymatic analysis, and these measurements were compared with those obtained using the hand-held monitor.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated excellent inter- and intraobserver reliability (0.99 and 0.92, respectively). The results from the monitor and the lab assay showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.96, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the hand-held monitor is highly reliable for measuring the sAA level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Life Dentistry, Nippon Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karibe
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Sachie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warita
authors.forename: Kisaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimazu
authors.forename: Kiyokazu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogata
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055291:Salivary alpha-Amylases / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D055291:Salivary alpha-Amylases