Degenerative findings on MRI of the cervical spine: an inter- and intra-rater reliability study

Results: The overall inter-rater reliability was substantial (??=?0.61) for the majority of variables and moderate only for zygapophyseal osteoarthritis (??=?0.56). Intra-rater reliability estimates were higher for all findings. 

Methods: Fifty cervical spine MRIs from subjects with neck pain were used. A radiologist, a chiropractor and a second-year resident of rheumatology independently assessed kyphosis, disc height, disc contour, vertebral endplate signal changes, spinal canal stenosis, neural foraminal stenosis, and osteoarthritis of the uncovertebral and zygapophyseal joints. An evaluation manual was composed containing classifications and illustrative examples, and ten of the MRIs were evaluated twice followed by consensus meetings to refine the classifications. Next, the three readers independently assessed the full sample. Reliability measures were reported using prevalence estimates and unweighted kappa (?) statistics.