title: Poor multi-rater reliability in TCM pattern diagnoses and variation in the use of symptoms to obtain a diagnosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pattern differentiation and diagnosis are fundamental principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Studies have shown low inter-rater reliability in TCM pattern diagnoses. This variability may originate from both the identification and the interpretation of symptoms and signs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the inter-rater reliability in TCM pattern diagnoses made in the style of Maciocia for 25 case histories by eight acupuncturists and to explore the impact of demographic factors on the diagnostic conclusion. Further, the association between the diagnosis and the presence of symptoms was examined for a single TCM diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight acupuncturists independently diagnosed 25 women (15 fertile, 10 infertile) based on written case histories. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression and inter-rater reliability (κ) were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Poor inter-rater reliability on TCM patterns (κ<0.20) and large variation in the number of TCM pattern diagnoses were found. Sex, duration of practice and education had a highly significant effect (p<0.001) on the use of TCM patterns and working hours had a significant effect (p=0.029). There was considerable intra- and inter-rater variation in the use of symptoms to make a diagnosis. Symptoms occurring frequently as well as infrequently were inconsistently used to diagnose Liver Qi Stagnation. The study was limited by a small sample size.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed extensive variation and poor inter-rater reliability in TCM diagnoses. Demographic variables influenced the frequency of diagnoses and symptoms were used inconsistently to set a diagnosis. The variability shown could impede individually tailored treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Oddveig
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Birkeflet
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Petter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laake
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Nina K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Vøllestad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000592:standards*; D010820:Physicians; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ACUPUNCTURE; GYNAECOLOGY; MEDICAL EDUCATION & TRAINING