Intra- and interobserver agreement in the interpretation of navicular bones on radiographs and computed tomography scans.
Abstract: Criteria for the radiographic evaluation of navicular bones in horses have been published to standardise classification of radiographic signs. However, intra- and interobserver agreement have not been established. Objective: To determine intra- and interobserver agreement in the evaluation of radiographic and computed tomographic (CT) navicular changes. It was hypothesised that: 1) intraobserver agreement would be better than interobserver agreement; 2) agreement would be better for CT than for radiography; and 3) pathological changes would be recognised with greater certainty with CT. Methods: Radiographs and CT scans of 60 cadaver navicular bones were evaluated by 3 observers using published criteria. A subset of 30 studies was evaluated twice by one observer. Agreement was tested using the kappa statistic. Certainty about pathological changes was evaluated by giving the observers the option to choose 'not sure'. Results: Agreement varied from poor to almost perfect for radiographic evaluation and from poor to substantial for CT evaluation. For radiographic evaluation mean interobserver agreement was fair, as it was for CT evaluation. For radiographic evaluation mean intraobserver agreement was moderate as it was for CT evaluation. Pathological changes were evaluated with greater certainty on CT scans compared to radiographs; however, this was not associated with improved agreement. Conclusions: Variations in classification of navicular lesions in radiographic and CT studies were considerable between and within observers and challenge the use of such studies for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Conclusions: The results of this study allowed the identification of evaluation criteria with sufficient precision to be useful for navicular bone evaluation.
Publication Date: 2009-05-08 PubMed ID: 19418739DOI: 10.2746/042516408x345125Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research article investigates the variability of evaluation results when interpreting radiographic and computed tomographic (CT) images of navicular bones in horses. The study specifically assesses the intra- (within the same observer) and interobserver (between different observers) agreement and confirms the hypothesis that CT scans provide more certainty in identifying pathological changes but don’t necessarily lead to improved agreement between observers.
Objective and Hypothesis
- The aim of this study is to assess the consistency among observers and the repeatability of the same observer’s evaluations in classifying navicular changes in horses based on radiographic and computed tomographic (CT) images.
- The researchers hypothesize that the agreement of evaluations within the same observer would be better than that between different observers, and CT scans would provide greater certainty in identifying pathological changes compared to radiographs.
Methods
- The researchers used published criteria to evaluate radiographs and CT scans of 60 horse navicular bones. This process was done by three observers. Moreover, one observer evaluated a subset of 30 studies twice.
- The agreement between evaluations was measured using the kappa statistic and the observers were given the choice to select ‘not sure’ for the evaluation of pathological changes to assess their certainty.
Results
- The agreement results ranged from poor to almost perfect for radiographic evaluation, and from poor to substantial for CT evaluation.
- The mean interobserver agreement for both types of images was fair, while the mean intraobserver agreement was moderate.
- While pathological changes were identified with greater certainty in CT scans compared to radiographs, this did not lead to improved agreement between observers.
Conclusions
- There was considerable variation in the classification of navicular lesions in both radiographic and CT studies by different observers and even within the same observer’s repeated evaluations, casting doubt on the reliability of using such studies for diagnostic purposes.
- However, the results did help identify some evaluation criteria that had enough precision to be useful for the evaluation of the navicular bone.
Cite This Article
APA
Groth AM, May SA, Weaver MP, Weller R.
(2009).
Intra- and interobserver agreement in the interpretation of navicular bones on radiographs and computed tomography scans.
Equine Vet J, 41(2), 124-129.
https://doi.org/10.2746/042516408x345125 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Cadaver
- Diagnosis, Differential
- Horse Diseases / diagnostic imaging
- Horse Diseases / pathology
- Horses
- Humans
- Observer Variation
- Prognosis
- Radiography / methods
- Radiography / standards
- Radiography / veterinary
- Reproducibility of Results
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- Tarsal Bones / diagnostic imaging
- Tarsal Bones / pathology
- Tarsus, Animal / diagnostic imaging
- Tarsus, Animal / pathology
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed / standards
- Tomography, X-Ray Computed / veterinary
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Hagag U, Nahas AE, Almohamad ZA, Brehm W, Gerlach K. 3T Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography of the bovine carpus. BMC Vet Res 2022 Jun 22;18(1):236.
- Salem M, El-Shafaey ES, Farag AMM, El-Khodery S, Al Mohamad Z, Abass M. A Descriptive Study of the Carpal Joint of Healthy Donkeys Using Ultrasonography, Computed Tomography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Vet Sci 2022 May 23;9(5).
- Peeters MWJ, Thursby JJ, Watson HE, Berner D. Caudal foot placement superior to toe elevation for navicular palmaroproximal-palmarodistal-oblique image quality. Equine Vet J 2023 Jan;55(1):122-128.
- Abdel Maksoud MKM, Hagag U, Salouci M, Mahmoud HH, Ibrahim AAH. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the normal distal limb in sheep (Ovis aries). BMC Vet Res 2025 Nov 13;21(1):664.
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