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Development of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to include traditionally clinic-reported data has the potential to decrease the data-collection burden for patients and clinicians and increase follow-up rates. However, replacing clinic report by patient report requires that the data reasonably agree. To assess agreement between PROs and clinical registry data at 1 year after bariatric surgery. Not-for-profit organization, bariatric surgery data registry, PROs platform. Patient- and clinic-reported 1-year postoperative weight and co-morbidities were compared for matched PROs and registry records. The co-morbidities evaluated were diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and hyperlipidemia. Weight difference in pounds and nominal groupings (binary, 4-level) for co-morbidities were assessed for agreement between data sources using descriptive statistics, Bland–Altman plots, multiple regression, and kappa coefficients. Sensitivity analyses and follow-up by response method were examined. Among 1130 patients with both 1-year PROs and registry weights, 95% of patient-reported weights were within 13 lb of the registry-recorded weight, and patients underreported their weight by ∼2 lb, on average. Percent agreement and kappa coefficients were highest for diabetes (n = 999; binary: 94%, κ =.72; 4-level: 86%, κ =.71) and lowest for gastroesophageal reflux disease (n = 1032; binary: 75%, κ =.40; 4-level: 57%, κ =.35). Of patients eligible for both PROs and registry 1-year follow-up, 21% had PROs only. One-year patient- and clinic-reported weights and disease status for patients with diabetes and hypertension showed high agreement. The degree of bias from patient report was low. Patient report is a viable alternative to clinic report for certain objective measurements and may increase follow-up. • One-year postoperative patient & clinic reported weights show high agreement. • Patient and clinic reported diabetes & hypertension status show high agreement. • Patient report options can increase postoperative long-term follow-up rates. • Response rates differ by demographics & response method, limiting generalizability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study described here investigated whether angle-independent vector flow imaging (VFI) technique estimates peak velocities in the portal vein comparably to pulsed wave Doppler (PWD). Furthermore, intra- and inter-observer agreement was assessed in a substudy. VFI and PWD peak velocities were estimated with from intercostal and subcostal views for 32 healthy volunteers, and precision analyses were conducted. Blinded to estimates, three physicians rescanned 10 volunteers for intra- and inter-observer agreement analyses. The precision of VFI and PWD was 18% and 28% from an intercostal view and 23% and 77% from a subcostal view, respectively. Bias between VFI and PWD was 0.57 cm/s (p = 0.38) with an intercostal view and 9.89 cm/s (p <0.001) with a subcostal view. Intra- and inter-observer agreement was highest for VFI (inter-observer intra-class correlation coefficient: VFI 0.80, PWD 0.3; intra-observer intra-class correlation coefficient: VFI 0.90, PWD 0.69). Regardless of scan view, VFI was more precise than PWD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the variability in the recognition of normal sperm and various sperm defects using the strict criteria recommended by the World Health Organization (5th edition, 2010). Design: Sperm morphologic assessment by three experienced evaluators. Setting: Image processing laboratory and reproduction research institute. Patient(s): Semen donors from a sperm bank. Intervention(s): The morphology of 5,296 sperm was evaluated using statistical analyses of variability. Main Outcome Measure(s): The proportion and coefficients of variation (CVs) of normal sperm, defects of specific parts, and the categories of defects were measured. The degree of agreement between any two of the three evaluators was calculated. The multiple anomalies index, teratozoospermia index, sperm deformity index, and the CVs were also measured. Result(s): The CVs of normal sperm, multiple anomalies index, teratozoospermia index, and sperm deformity index were 4.80%, 4.14%, 5.75%, and 6.81%, respectively. A broader range (4.80%–132.97%) of CVs was observed for the recognition of various defects. The coefficients of the degree of agreement concerning specific morphologic parts of sperm varied (0.387–0.607), with lower relative values for the head and mid-piece than for the tail and cytoplasm. Conclusion(s): The sperm head is more difficult to evaluate than the other parts using the criteria recommended by the World Health Organization in 2010. The degree of agreement concerning specific parts and various defects varied in broad ranges. A stricter definition for each defect is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis is an incurable skin disorder affecting 2-3% of the world population. The scaliness of psoriasis is a key assessment parameter of the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Dermatologists typically use visual and tactile senses in PASI scaliness assessment. However, the assessment can be subjective resulting in inter- and intra-rater variability in the scores. This paper proposes an assessment method that incorporates 3D surface roughness with standard clustering techniques to objectively determine the PASI scaliness score for psoriasis lesions. A surface roughness algorithm using structured light projection has been applied to 1999 3D psoriasis lesion surfaces. The algorithm has been validated with an accuracy of 94.12%. Clustering algorithms were used to classify the surface roughness measured using the proposed assessment method for PASI scaliness scoring. The reliability of the developed PASI scaliness algorithm was high with kappa coefficients > 0.84 (almost perfect agreement). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study describes the comparison of multiple and single pain ratings in patients after surgical removal of the third molar. Correlation and agreement analysis were performed between the average pain intensity measured three times a day over a period of 7 days and one single pain rating (designated the ‘recalled average’ pain, as assessed by the patient) after surgical removal of the lower third molar. The study population consisted of patients participating in three randomized trials. The results show that both measurement correlated good to excellent, but there was a large variation in agreement between the ratings. In conclusion, in patients with surgical third molar removal a single pain rating is not an accurate predictor of the average pain measured by a multiple pain-rating test. A single pain rating cannot replace a multiple pain assessment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The correct approach to analyzing method agreement is discussed. Whether we are considering agreement between two measurements on the same samples (repeatability) or two individuals using identical methodology on identical samples (reproducibility) or comparing two methods, appropriate procedures are described, and worked examples are shown. The correct approaches for both categorical and numerical variables are explained. More complex analyses involving a comparison of more than two pairs of data are mentioned and guidance for these analyses given. Simple formulae for calculating the approximate sample size needed for agreement analysis are also given. Examples of good practice from the reproduction literature are cited, and common errors of methodology are indicated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study proposes a dedicated algorithm to estimate heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) from seismocardiogram (SCG). The proposed algorithm primarily consists of the wavelet decomposition (by db6 wavelet), the Fourier-based envelope detection and the time-averaged power spectral density (PSD) from the scalogram by complex Morlet wavelet. The records in the combined measurement of ECG, breathing and SCG (CEBS) database of PhysioNet are adopted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm for HR and RR estimation. The performance was evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman's agreement analysis. The statistical results for HR estimation show good to excellent correlation between the approaches by SCG and ECG and also meet the maximal allowable error for the HR meter. As the quality of some respiratory signals in the CEBS database is not good for RR estimation, additional experiments have been conducted in the university laboratory under well-controlled procedure. The statistical results for the RR estimation in these experiments show good to excellent correlation between the approaches of RR estimation by SCG and respiratory signal. The RR estimation from SCG also meets the specification given in contemporary medical device. The proposed algorithm does not take the removal of motion artifact into account and thus SCG signal must be measured under resting state. From this study, SCG can be a potential tool to estimate HR and RR for monitoring the patient in intensive care unit (ICU) or monitoring the sleep quality in clinical setting or in daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]