Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2025

Field Measurement of Effective Leaf Area Index using Optical Device in Vegetation Canopy
Published on: July 29, 2021
Interobserver variation in the Parkland scale. Are we seeing the same thing?
José L Maldonado-Calderón1, Lydia E Nava-Rivera2, Antonio Urbina-Zeglen1
1Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital General Universitario Dr. Joaquín Del Valle Sánchez, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (UAdeC), Torreón, Coahuila.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to analyze the reliability of agreement between surgeons when using the Parkland Grading Scale for Acute Cholecystitis (PGS-AC).
Methods:
A total of 43 images taken out of videos of laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LCs) were collected, they were used to frame an online questionnaire that was sent to 18 surgeons and resident doctors who classified the images according to the Parkland scale criteria, followed by the evaluation of concordance between observers applying the Fleiss κ test.
Results:
A global Fleiss' κ value of 0.213 was obtained, which corresponds to a low interobserver concordance. Factors such as being a surgical resident, having more than 10 years of experience performing this type of procedure, or performing more than 2 LCs per week, were related to greater concordance in diagnosis.
Conclusions:
The low concordance found when using the Parkland grading scale, translates into a high interobserver variation related to multiple variables, which is why, we are not seeing the same.
Related Concept Videos
Ordinal Level of Measurement
Data measured using an ordinal scale are similar to nominal scale data, but there is one major difference. The ordinal scale data can be ordered. An example of ordinal scale data is a list of the top five national parks...
What is Variation?
The range, standard deviation, standard error, and variance are the different measures of variation.
Range: The range is the difference between its maximum and...
Variability: Analysis
The range is a simple measure of variability, indicating the difference between the highest and...
Variation
When independent and dependent variables are plotted on a scatter plot, the slope of a line is a value that describes the rate of change between the two...
Naturalistic Observations
Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation

