Intraclass correlations of periodontal measurements

Components of variance and intraclass correlation coefficients were computed for changes in attachment level, pocket depth, gingival and plaque index scores for 5 groups of treated periodontal disease patients and 1 group of untreated subjects with periodontal disease. The intraclass correlation coefficients for attachment level change ranged from 0.011 to 0.165 (median 0.067), while intraclass correlation coefficients for pocket depth changes ranged from -0.009 to 0.178 (median 0.071). These intraclass correlation coefficients were much lower than those computed for changes in measurements of plaque which ranged from 0.086 to 0.568 (median 0.268) or gingival inflammation which ranged from 0.119 to 0.522 (median 0.264). Intraclass correlation coefficients at baseline for pocket depths ranged from 0.000 to 0.199 (median 0.053), for plaque accumulation from 0.121 to 0.531 (median 0.222) and for gingival inflammation from 0.229 to 0.596 (median 0.391). The differences in the intraclass correlation coefficients between pocket depth and attachment level on the one hand and plaque accumulation or gingival inflammation on the other could not be explained on the basis of differences in the measurement scale employed, since collapsing measurement scales had little effect on the intraclass correlation coefficients. The observed larger intraclass correlation coefficients for changes in plaque and gingival indices suggest a larger rôle for host contribution to these measurements. In contrast, the data suggest that the major but by no means the sole factor determining the variability of attachment level or pocket depth changes is the nature of the local factors.