Inter-Examiner Training and Calibration to Assess Dental and Oral Disease in the Elderly

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Examiner training and calibration in clinical measurement of important variables is carried out to equalize perceptions among examiners. AIM: This study aims to obtain intra- and inter-examiner perception similarities after training and calibration in measuring dental caries, tooth mobility, periodontal pockets, and tooth loss in the elderly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of ten examiners performed clinical measurements of dental caries, tooth mobility, periodontal pockets, and tooth loss. The measurement was carried out by a researcher to examine 25 elderly respondents. The calibration process was carried out twice for each respondent who was examined by each researcher. The results of the assessment were compared with one of the researchers as a reference for assessment (gold standard). Pearson correlation was used to determine the level of intra-examiner agreement, while Cohen’s kappa was used to determine inter-examiner reliability. RESULTS: The results of the intra-rater for calibrations I and II using the Pearson correlation showed significant (p = 0.000). The inter-examiner showed almost perfect agreement and increased between calibrations I and II for examination of dental caries (I = k 0.829–1.000, and II = k 0.871–1.000), examination of tooth mobility (I = k 0.886–0.944 and II = k 0.886–1.000), periodontal pocket examination (I = k 0.855–1.000, and II = k 0.855–1.000), and tooth loss examination (I = k 0.955–1.000, and II = k 0.955–1.000). CONCLUSION: The results of intra-examiner measurements showed agreement (p = 0.000) and inter-examiner reliability (k = 0.829-1.000).