Diagnostic Reliability of the Singh index: Femoral Neck Osteoporosis

ผู้แต่ง

  • Suppasin Soontrapa
  • Prathana Chowchuen
  • Jiraporn Srinakarin
  • Sukree Soontrapa

บทคัดย่อ

Background

The incidence of osteoporotic hip fracture increases annually, the key to successful treatment of osteoporosis is early diagnosis and treatment before fracture. The Singh index was a popular tool for diagnosis of osteoporosis in the past, but its reliability is debated.

Objective

To evaluate the intra- and inter-personal reliability of Singh grading among elderly Thai  women between two radiologists at Srinagarind hospital, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.

Design

Cross-sectional descriptive study

Setting

Thai elderly women in Khon Kane province, Thailand.

Outcome Measurements

Singh grading, intra- and inter-observer reliability by kappa (k) and weighted-k

Results

We registered  130 elderly Thai women in the study. The age of participants averaged 71.6 years (range 61-86 years). The first and second intra-observer (and their weighted) reliability k was 0.15 (95%CI: 0.04-0.26) (and 0.27), and 0.29 (95%CI: 0.15-0.42) (and 0.35), respectively. The inter-observer (and weighted) reliability k was 0.10 (95%CI: 0.00-0.20) and 0.26.

Conclusion

The intra- and inter-person reliability of the Singh index is poor; therefore, the index needs to be simplified to establish its reliability as a screening tool for osteoporosis.

Key word

Singh index, Kappa (k), Reliability, Osteoporosis

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