title: Evaluation of interobserver agreement of apgar scoring in preterm infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Apgar scoring is accepted by medical professionals both as a measure of the infant's clinical status and the infant's response to resuscitation. Recent studies, however, have suggested significant variability when used for scoring preterm infants. We hypothesized that agreement in Apgar scoring would improve with increasing gestational age and at low levels of respiratory support. We also hypothesized that grimace and muscle tone would demonstrate the least agreement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neonatologists from the Perinatal Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics were presented with 4 film clip cases via a secure online survey: (1) full-term infant in room air; (2) 28 weeks' gestation infant with continuous positive airway pressure; (3) 28 weeks' gestation infant intubated; and (4) 24 weeks' gestation infant intubated. Participants were shown 30-second clips at 1, 5, and 10 minutes of life and were asked to provide Apgar scores. κ coefficients were used to compare agreement for each component.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 335 neonatologists participated in the survey. κ coefficients in the full-term infant for respiratory effort (0.94, 0.91), grimace (0.91, 0.90), and muscle tone (0.91, 0.89) demonstrated almost perfect agreement at 1 and 5 minutes. For preterm infants, respiratory effort (range: 0.07-0.40), muscle tone (range: 0.10-0.75), and grimace (range: 0.11-0.71) all demonstrated disagreement at 1, 5, and 10 minutes of life unless the infants were apneic and limp.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An improved delivery room score that decreases variability among medical care professionals is needed to accurately reflect the clinical status of preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, 11100 Euclid Ave, RBC Suite 3100, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. monuj.bashambu@case.edu
authors.forename: Monuj T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Bashambu
authors.forename: Halana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hibbs
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhola
mesh_terms: D001034:Apgar Score; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D009359:Neonatology; D015588:Observer Variation