Table 2.
Diagnostic agreement between the submitting healthcare worker and the dermatologist*
| Categories | Number of consultations | Full agreement (n, %) | No agreement (n, %) | Cohen’s κ coefficient (95% CI) | Level of diagnostic agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| All consultations | 307 | 174 (56.7) | 133 (43.3) | 0.56 (0.50–0.61) | Moderate |
| Disease categories | |||||
| Skin infections and infestations | 162 | 110 (67.9) | 52 (32.1) | 0.66 (0.59–0.73) | Good |
| Eczematous conditions | 85 | 41 (48.2) | 44 (51.8) | 0.44 (0.33–0.54) | Moderate |
| Other conditions† | 60 | 23 (38.3) | 37 (61.7) | 0.37 (0.25–0.49) | Fair |
| Time periods‡ | |||||
| Months 1–6 | 130 | 61 (46.9) | 69 (53.1) | 0.45 (0.37–0.54) | Moderate |
| Months 7–12 | 42 | 21 (50.0) | 21 (50.0) | 0.48 (0.33–0.63) | Moderate |
| Months 13–18 | 56 | 31 (55.4) | 25 (44.6) | 0.54 (0.41–0.67) | Moderate |
| Months 19–24 | 79 | 61 (77.2) | 18 (22.8) | 0.76 (0.67–0.86) | Good |
*
Diagnostic agreement was calculated over all consultations, for three disease categories, and for each successive 6-month time period.
†
Other conditions include papulosquamous and premalignant conditions, acneiform eruptions, toxic dermatitis, inflammatory and pigmented disorders, and miscellaneous.
‡
Global P value < 0.001, indicating a statistically significant increase in the level of diagnostic agreement over the 24-month period.