Observer variation in clinical examination of the nasal airway

There has been no standardization of clinical assessment of the nasal airway between different clinical trials. In order to evaluate the reproducibility of tests in use in current clinical practice, a pre-trial inter-observer assessment of the nasal airway tests was made and an intra- and inter-observer assessment was made in 25 patients. Differing degrees of correlation were demonstrated, using the Kappa statistic. Suggestions are made to enable improved standardization of clinical examination of the nasal airways for clinical trials.