Document Detail


A proposed solution to the base rate problem in the kappa statistic.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  4015315     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Because it corrects for chance agreement, kappa (kappa) is a useful statistic for calculating interrater concordance. However, kappa has been criticized because its computed value is a function not only of sensitivity and specificity, but also the prevalence, or base rate, of the illness of interest in the particular population under study. For example, it has been shown for a hypothetical case in which sensitivity and specificity remain constant at .95 each, that kappa falls from .81 to .14 when the prevalence drops from 50% to 1%. Thus, differing values of kappa may be entirely due to differences in prevalence. Calculation of agreement presents different problems depending on whether one is studying reliability or validity. We discuss quantification of agreement in the pure validity case, the pure reliability case, and those studies that fall somewhere between. As a way of minimizing the base rate problem, we propose a statistic for the quantification of agreement (the Y statistic), which can be related to kappa but which is completely independent of prevalence in the case of validity studies and relatively so in the case of reliability.
Authors:
E L Spitznagel; J E Helzer
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Archives of general psychiatry     Volume:  42     ISSN:  0003-990X     ISO Abbreviation:  Arch. Gen. Psychiatry     Publication Date:  1985 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1985-07-30     Completed Date:  1985-07-30     Revised Date:  2007-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0372435     Medline TA:  Arch Gen Psychiatry     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  725-8     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Epidemiologic Methods / standards
Humans
Interview, Psychological
Mathematics
Mental Disorders / diagnosis*,  epidemiology
Probability
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Statistics as Topic*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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