Reliability of Palpation of Pedal Pulses As Ascertained by the Kappa Statistic

Abstract
An improved statistic (weight kappa) was tested for reviewing the reliability of the palpation of pedal pulses [a simplistic model]. Significant improvement was noted after training. Reliability persisted with respect to a reduce form of the conventional ordinal grading system. Problems of usefulness or reliability may arise when > 5 distinctions are made in describing the pulses or when the data are completely reduced to only a dichotomous (present-absent) system.