BMJ  2005;331 (13 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7513.0-b

Russian doctors vary widely in interpreting chest x rays

Agreement between Russian clinicians in interpreting chest radiographs is limited. Balabanova and colleagues (p 379) assessed the interobserver and intraobserver agreement between 101 clinicians involved in the care of tuberculosis and respiratory diseases on the interpretation of 50 chest radiographs. On a scale of poor, fair, moderate, and good to very good agreement, agreement was fair on the presence or absence of an abnormality, moderate for localisation of the abnormality, and fair for a diagnosis of tuberculosis. Radiologists had the highest levels of agreement. The results may have implications for the effectiveness of radiological screening programmes in general.

Credit: A J PHOTO/SPL

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Variability in interpretation of chest radiographs among Russian clinicians and implications for screening programmes: observational study

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