TY - JOUR
T1 - Reliability assessment of ultrasound muscle echogenicity in patients with rheumatic diseases: Results of a multicenter international web-based study
AU - Di Matteo, Andrea
AU - Moscioni, Erica
AU - Lommano, Maria Giovanna
AU - Cipolletta, Edoardo
AU - Smerilli, Gianluca
AU - Farah, Sonia
AU - Airoldi, Carla
AU - Aydin, Sibel Zehra
AU - Becciolini, Andrea
AU - Bonfiglioli, Karina
AU - Carotti, Marina
AU - Carrara, Greta
AU - Cazenave, Tomas
AU - Corradini, Davide
AU - Cosatti, Micaela Ana
AU - de Agustin, Juan Josè
AU - Destro Castaniti, Giulia Maria
AU - Di Carlo, Marco
AU - Di Donato, Eleonora
AU - Di Geso, Luca
AU - Elliott, Ashley
AU - Fodor, Daniela
AU - Francioso, Francesca
AU - Gabba, Alessandra
AU - Hernández-Díaz, Cristina
AU - Horvath, Rudolf
AU - Hurnakova, Jana
AU - Jesus, Diogo
AU - Marin, Josefina
AU - Martire, Maria Victoria
AU - Mashadi Mirza, Riccardo
AU - Massarotti, Marco
AU - Musca, Alice Andreea
AU - Nair, Jagdish
AU - Okano, Tadashi
AU - Papalopoulos, Ioannis
AU - Rosa, Javier
AU - Rosemffet, Marcos
AU - Rovisco, João
AU - Rozza, Davide
AU - Salaffi, Fausto
AU - Scioscia, Crescenzio
AU - Scirè, Carlo Alberto
AU - Tamas, Maria-Magdalena
AU - Tanimura, Shun
AU - Ventura-Rios, Lucio
AU - Villota-Eraso, Catalina
AU - Villota, Orlando
AU - Voulgari, Paraskevi V
AU - Vreju, Florentin Ananu
AU - Vukatana, Gentiana
AU - Hereter, Johana Zacariaz
AU - Zanetti, Anna
AU - Grassi, Walter
AU - Filippucci, Emilio
PY - 2023/1/17
Y1 - 2023/1/17
N2 - To investigate the inter/intra-reliability of ultrasound (US) muscle echogenicity in patients with rheumatic diseases. Forty-two rheumatologists and 2 radiologists from 13 countries were asked to assess US muscle echogenicity of quadriceps muscle in 80 static images and 20 clips from 64 patients with different rheumatic diseases and 8 healthy subjects. Two visual scales were evaluated, a visual semi-quantitative scale (0-3) and a continuous quantitative measurement ("VAS echogenicity," 0-100). The same assessment was repeated to calculate intra-observer reliability. US muscle echogenicity was also calculated by an independent research assistant using a software for the analysis of scientific images (ImageJ). Inter and intra reliabilities were assessed by means of prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted Kappa (PABAK), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and correlations through Kendall's Tau and Pearson's Rho coefficients. The semi-quantitative scale showed a moderate inter-reliability [PABAK = 0.58 (0.57-0.59)] and a substantial intra-reliability [PABAK = 0.71 (0.68-0.73)]. The lowest inter and intra-reliability results were obtained for the intermediate grades (i.e., grade 1 and 2) of the semi-quantitative scale. "VAS echogenicity" showed a high reliability both in the inter-observer [ICC = 0.80 (0.75-0.85)] and intra-observer [ICC = 0.88 (0.88-0.89)] evaluations. A substantial association was found between the participants assessment of the semi-quantitative scale and "VAS echogenicity" [ICC = 0.52 (0.50-0.54)]. The correlation between these two visual scales and ImageJ analysis was high (tau = 0.76 and rho = 0.89, respectively). The results of this large, multicenter study highlighted the overall good inter and intra-reliability of the US assessment of muscle echogenicity in patients with different rheumatic diseases.
AB - To investigate the inter/intra-reliability of ultrasound (US) muscle echogenicity in patients with rheumatic diseases. Forty-two rheumatologists and 2 radiologists from 13 countries were asked to assess US muscle echogenicity of quadriceps muscle in 80 static images and 20 clips from 64 patients with different rheumatic diseases and 8 healthy subjects. Two visual scales were evaluated, a visual semi-quantitative scale (0-3) and a continuous quantitative measurement ("VAS echogenicity," 0-100). The same assessment was repeated to calculate intra-observer reliability. US muscle echogenicity was also calculated by an independent research assistant using a software for the analysis of scientific images (ImageJ). Inter and intra reliabilities were assessed by means of prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted Kappa (PABAK), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and correlations through Kendall's Tau and Pearson's Rho coefficients. The semi-quantitative scale showed a moderate inter-reliability [PABAK = 0.58 (0.57-0.59)] and a substantial intra-reliability [PABAK = 0.71 (0.68-0.73)]. The lowest inter and intra-reliability results were obtained for the intermediate grades (i.e., grade 1 and 2) of the semi-quantitative scale. "VAS echogenicity" showed a high reliability both in the inter-observer [ICC = 0.80 (0.75-0.85)] and intra-observer [ICC = 0.88 (0.88-0.89)] evaluations. A substantial association was found between the participants assessment of the semi-quantitative scale and "VAS echogenicity" [ICC = 0.52 (0.50-0.54)]. The correlation between these two visual scales and ImageJ analysis was high (tau = 0.76 and rho = 0.89, respectively). The results of this large, multicenter study highlighted the overall good inter and intra-reliability of the US assessment of muscle echogenicity in patients with different rheumatic diseases.
KW - reliability
KW - rheumatic diseases
KW - musculoskeletal ultrasound
KW - sarcopenia
KW - muscle echogenicity
U2 - 10.3389/fmed.2022.1090468
DO - 10.3389/fmed.2022.1090468
M3 - Article
C2 - 36733934
SN - 2296-858X
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Medicine
JF - Frontiers in Medicine
M1 - 1090468
ER -