PURPOSE: To determine the intra-observer and inter-observer reliability of a novel ocular staining score among trained ophthalmologists. DESIGN: Reliability analysis within a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study. METHODS: Those enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-funded Sj  @entity922 ( @entity922 ) who presented for follow-up at the University of California San Francisco, Aravind Eye Hospital, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Pennsylvania were included. Study @entity1 were graded using the ocular staining score by at least 2 masked @entity922 -trained ophthalmologists. The primary outcome for this study was the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the total ocular staining score. ICCs were also calculated for @entity6724 ( @entity6724 ) and conjunctival and corneal staining. RESULTS: Total ocular staining score had an ICC of 0.91 for the right eye (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.85-0.96) and 0.90 for the left eye (95% CI 0.83-0.97). Corneal staining (right eye 0.86, 95% CI 0.76-0.93, left eye 0.90, 95% CI 0.81-0.95) and conjunctival staining (right eye 0.87, 95% CI 0.80-0.93, left eye 0.85, 95% CI 0.75-0.93) demonstrated excellent agreement. The ICC for @entity6724 was slightly lower (right eye 0.77, 95% CI 0.64-0.89; left eye 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.90). CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies have shown that the ocular staining score is correlated with other diagnostic components of Sj  gren syndrome. In this study, we demonstrate high reliability in grading among trained ophthalmologists, completing the validation of this test.

Inter-grader Agreement of the Ocular Staining Score in the Sj  gren's International Clinical Collaborative Alliance ( XXXX ) Registry.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['participants'] @entity6724 :: ('MESH:D019457', 'Disease') :: ['TBUT', 'tear break-up time'] @entity922 :: ('MESH:D013568', 'Disease') :: ["gren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance", 'SICCA']
@entity922 :: (MESH:D013568,Disease) :: ['SICCA']
