Telemedicine in General Neurology: Interrater Reliability of Clinical Neurological Examination Via Audio-Visual Telemedicine
Awadallah M, Janssen F, Koerber B, Breuer L, Scibor M, Handschu R (2018)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2018
Journal
Book Volume: 80
Pages Range: 289-294
Journal Issue: 5-6
DOI: 10.1159/000497157
Abstract
Introduction: While there are several studies on reliability of telemedicine in assessing stroke scales, little is known about the validity of a general neurological examination performed via telemedicine. Therefore, we sought to test the agreement between bedside and remote examination in acute patients of the emergency room. Methods: Acute patients at the emergency room of a 450-bed academic teaching hospital were included in this study. A clinical neurological examination consisting of 22 items was performed at bedside and also remotely via an audio-visual link by a different neurologist; both were experienced clinicians at the consultant level. Kappa statistics were calculated for each item of the examination. Results: Forty three patients completed both examinations (mean age 58.3 years, 56% female). Patients were seen between 8 and 72 min after admission (mean 36.3 min). Total time for remote examination was 12.6 min (8-21 min) and 8.9 min (5-18 min) for bedside examination. K-coefficients ranged from 0.32 (muscle tone) - 0.82 (language) indicating a fair to excellent agreement in most items. Conclusions: Remote examination via an audio-visual link produces comparable results to bedside performance even in acute patients of the emergency room. Compared to the scarce data available, inter-observer agreement is about the same as that between 2 examiners at bedside. However, more studies on reliability and validity of clinical neurological examination are required. (c) 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Awadallah, M., Janssen, F., Koerber, B., Breuer, L., Scibor, M., & Handschu, R. (2018). Telemedicine in General Neurology: Interrater Reliability of Clinical Neurological Examination Via Audio-Visual Telemedicine. European neurology, 80(5-6), 289-294. https://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000497157
MLA:
Awadallah, Mohamed, et al. "Telemedicine in General Neurology: Interrater Reliability of Clinical Neurological Examination Via Audio-Visual Telemedicine." European neurology 80.5-6 (2018): 289-294.
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