Methods of measuring the reliability of caries prevalence and incremental data

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Abstract
The purpose of undertaking repeat examinations in oral epidemiology has been discussed. Since many of the published methods of demonstrating repeatability do not allow the influence of error to be quantified, the value of estimating reliability was investigated. This is based on the assumption that the coefficient of reliability is the ratio of true to total variance, where total variance is the sum of true and error variance. It was suggested that the reliability coefficient together with error variance should be used to express repeatability in oral epidemiology since reliability is closely related to the efficiency of the study and allows the relative importance of error to be assessed. Five methods for determining the reliability of dental caries data have been investigated and compared; all but one required the reexamination of subjects. The fifth method, although not requiring a reexamination, was considered unsuitable for use in caries studies. The two methods recommended for use in prevalence surveys were simple to use and provided data from which the reliability of incremental scores might be calculated.

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