Araujo Marcelo W B, Benedek Kathleen M, Benedek Janice R, Grossi Sara G, Dorn Joan, Wactawski-Wende Jean, Genco Robert J, Trevisan Maurizio
Dental Research and Graduate Studies Division, Department of Periodontics, Guarulhos University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.
J Periodontol. 2003 Dec;74(12):1736-1740. doi: 10.1902/jop.2003.74.12.1736.
Probing depth (PD) is a commonly used method to determine periodontal disease severity in both treating and evaluating disease progression. Agreement among examiners collecting data in scientific investigations is necessary to establish reliable criteria for determining levels of periodontal attachment loss. The objective of our study was to evaluate inter- and intraexaminer variability of PD measurements among study examiners using a constant force periodontal probe, and to compare the variability of tooth-mean and quadrant-mean.
Three examiners, who had been previously trained and calibrated, performed measurements on 20 volunteers. Intraand interexaminer variability of sites was determined by means of standard error of measurement (SE). Data analysis included determination of error for both quadrant mean and tooth mean.
PD measurements for the quadrant-mean were used to calculate the intraexaminer variability, resulting in a mean (SD) value for an SE of 0.40 mm (± 0.02). Interexaminer variability for quadrant mean was 0.16 mm (± 0.02). For tooth-mean SE, the intraexaminer variability values were equal to 0.38 mm (± 0.07), and interexaminer variability equal to 0.24 mm (± 0.05).
All three examiners participating in our study were able to obtain reliable measurements for PD, using the constant force electronic probe. Reproducibility did not vary appreciably when using the whole quadrant mean compared to the tooth mean. These trained examiners were able to provide reproducible measures under 0.5 mm. J Periodontol 2003;74:1736-1740.
探诊深度（PD）是在治疗和评估疾病进展过程中用于确定牙周疾病严重程度的常用方法。在科学研究中，收集数据的检查者之间达成一致对于建立确定牙周附着丧失水平的可靠标准至关重要。我们研究的目的是使用恒力牙周探针评估研究检查者之间以及检查者内部PD测量的变异性，并比较牙齿均值和象限均值的变异性。
三名经过先前培训和校准的检查者对20名志愿者进行测量。通过测量标准误（SE）确定检查者内部和检查者之间部位的变异性。数据分析包括确定象限均值和牙齿均值的误差。
使用象限均值的PD测量值来计算检查者内部变异性，得出SE的平均（标准差）值为0.40 mm（±0.02）。象限均值的检查者间变异性为0.16 mm（±0.02）。对于牙齿均值SE，检查者内部变异性值等于0.38 mm（±0.07），检查者间变异性等于0.24 mm（±0.05）。
参与我们研究的所有三名检查者使用恒力电子探针能够获得可靠的PD测量值。与使用牙齿均值相比，使用整个象限均值时再现性没有明显差异。这些经过培训的检查者能够提供小于0.5 mm的可重复测量值。《牙周病学杂志》2003年；74：1736 - 1740。
