title: Finger clubbing: do we require digital index quantitator?
abstract: Some diseases may underlie finger clubbing. However, there is a dearth of information about early stage of finger clubbing because only few researchers have shown interest in it. We determined the Digital Index of normal, healthy subjects by using thread and manual Vernier calipers, the time used for the procedure, and its interrater reliability. The value of Digital Index was 8.86 ± 0.29 (Mean ± SD) with a range of 8.15 to 9.41. Interrater reliability was excellent with Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.966. Overall, the time taken to measure the Digital Index ranged from 21.93 to 68.80 minutes with an average of 35.97 ± 9.16 (Mean ± SD). Determining Digital Index need much time, but this can be overcome if we use Digital Index Quantitator (DIQ). Availability of DIQ in the hospital wards will be of much benefit. DIQ can also be used to accurately quantify the progression or regression of the clubbing process. This article proves that we need morphometry of digital clubbing as well as the correlation of the physical sign of clubbing with Digital Index.
authors.affiliation: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences UNIMAS, Department of Medicine, Kuching, Sarawak 93150, Malaysia. ddrahardjo@fmhs.unimas.my.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Djojodibroto
authors.affiliation: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences UNIMAS, Department of Medicine, Kuching, Sarawak 93150, Malaysia.
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences UNIMAS, Department of Family Medicine, Kuching, Sarawak 93150, Malaysia.
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Kana
authors.affiliation: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences UNIMAS, Department of Medicine, Kuching, Sarawak 93150, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hla