title: Reliability testing of two classification systems for osteoarthritis and post-traumatic arthritis of the elbow.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The severity of elbow arthritis is one of many factors that surgeons must evaluate when considering treatment options for a given patient. Elbow surgeons have historically used the Broberg and Morrey (BM) and Hastings and Rettig (HR) classification systems to radiographically stage the severity of post-traumatic arthritis (PTA) and primary osteoarthritis (OA). We proposed to compare the intraobserver and interobserver reliability between systems for patients with either PTA or OA.
  
  
  METHODS
  The radiographs of 45 patients were evaluated at least 2 weeks apart by 6 evaluators of different levels of training. Intraobserver and interobserver reliability were calculated by Spearman correlation coefficients with 95% confidence intervals. Agreement was considered almost perfect for coefficients >0.80 and substantial for coefficients of 0.61 to 0.80.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In patients with both PTA and OA, intraobserver reliability and interobserver reliability were substantial, with no difference between classification systems. There were no significant differences in intraobserver or interobserver reliability between attending physicians and trainees for either classification system (all P > .10). The presence of fracture implants did not affect reliability in the BM system but did substantially worsen reliability in the HR system (intraobserver P = .04 and interobserver P = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BM and HR classifications both showed substantial intraobserver and interobserver reliability for PTA and OA. Training level differences did not affect reliability for either system. Both trainees and fellowship-trained surgeons may easily and reliably apply each classification system to the evaluation of primary elbow OA and PTA, although the HR system was less reliable in the presence of fracture implants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Sykes
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Mauck
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Azar
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA. Electronic address: tthrockmorton@campbellclinic.com.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Throckmorton
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004551:Elbow Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D057072:Intra-Articular Fractures / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D015588:Observer Variation; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000145:classification* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D000092464:Elbow Injuries
keywords: Elbow; classification; osteoarthritis; post-traumatic arthritis; reliability