title: Method of Quantifying Size of Retinal Hemorrhages in Eyes with Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion Using 14-Square Grid: Interrater and Intrarater Reliability.
abstract: Purpose. To describe a method of quantifying the size of the retinal hemorrhages in branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and to determine the interrater and intrarater reliabilities of these measurements.Methods. Thirty-five fundus photographs from 35 consecutive eyes with BRVO were studied. The fundus images were analyzed with Power-Point® software, and a grid of 14 squares was laid over the fundus image. Raters were asked to judge the percentage of each of the 14 squares that was covered by the hemorrhages, and the average of the 14 squares was taken to be the relative size of the retinal hemorrhage.Results. Interrater reliability between three raters was higher when a grid with 14 squares was used (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), 0.96) than that when a box with no grid was used (ICC, 0.78). Intrarater reliability, which was calculated by the retinal hemorrhage area measured on two different days, was also higher (ICC, 0.97) than that with no grid (ICC, 0.86). Interrater reliability for five fundus pictures with poor image quality was also good when a grid with 14 squares was used (ICC, 0.88).Conclusions. Although our method is subjective, excellent interrater and intrarater reliabilities indicate that this method can be adapted for clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kozawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Kengo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikesugi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1890-5417
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Mineo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4569-1792
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kondo