CMAJ • July 5, 2005; 173 (1). doi:10.1503/cmaj.1050010.
© 2005 CMA Media Inc. or its licensors
All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association.
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Letters
Correspondance

Kappa statistic

G. Michael Allan

Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta.

As a teacher of basic skills in evidence-based medicine (EBM), I have appreciated the CMAJ articles that have been appearing in the EBM "tips" series. In particular, I was happy to see the discussion of the kappa statistic,1 specifically the calculation of chance agreement (e.g., Table 3 in the article).

Unfortunately, discussions of kappa tend to focus on dichotomous variables, such as positive or negative results on mammography or the presence or absence of Murphy's sign. In cases of continuous variables, such as jugular venous pressure, how is agreement compared and kappa calculated?

Reference

  1. McGinn T, Wyer PC, Newman TB, Keitz S, Leipzig R, Guyatt G, for Evidence-Based Medicine Teaching Tips Working Group. Tips for learners of evidence-based medicine: 3. Measures of observer variability (kappa statistic). CMAJ 2004;171(11):1369-73.[Free Full Text]




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