INTER-OBSERVER REPRODUCIBILITY OF 15 TESTS USED FOR PREDICTING DIFFICULT INTUBATION

Aim. To determine the inter-observer reproducibility of 15 tests used for predicting difficult tracheal intubation (DI). Material and methods. Following local ethics committee approval and informed consent, 101 volunteers were exam-ined by two assessors using 15 tests for predicting DI. The two assessors who were blinded to the results of the other, examined each volunteer independently. Cohen’s kappa (κ) or first-order agreement coefficient (AC1) were used to measure agreement between assessor ratings on a qualitative scale. Agreement between two quantitative outcomes was described using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Pearson’s (PCC) or Spearman’s (SCC) correlation coefficients. The following interpretation of the coefficients was used: poor (< 0.20), fair (0.21–0.40), satisfactory (0.41–0.60), good (0.61–0.80), and excellent (0.81–1.00). Results. Respective coefficients of inter-rater agreement and correlation coefficients were determined for the fol-lowing parameters: pathologies associated with DI (κ=0.662, AC1=0.990), clinical impression (κ=-0.013, AC1=0.969)