1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-8-77-b 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-8-10-8 Headache Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Inter-Observer Agreement in Headache Diagnosis http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 10 1994 01 06 2016 8 10 77 77 Copyright: © 1994 The Author(s) 1994 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Inter-observer agreement in the diagnosis of childhood headache

Inter-observer agreement among 4 pediatric neurologists in the diagnosis of recurrent headaches in 40 children, ages 4 to 17 years (mean 10 years), was prospectively assessed at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

 Pediatric Neurologists Headache Diagnoses Single Headache Types

Inter-observer agreement among 4 pediatric neurologists in the diagnosis of recurrent headaches in 40 children, ages 4 to 17 years (mean 10 years), was prospectively assessed at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Referring to letters containing reports of the child’s symptoms, history and examination, the headache diagnoses were checked off on a data sheet, listing up to 12 types. Agreement in headache diagnoses between pairs of neurologists ranged from 45% to 78%. Agreement was 76% when both neurologists in a pair diagnosed single headache types, but only 4% when multiple diagnoses were applied. [1]

COMMENT. Agreement among pediatric neurologists was relatively good provided that a single headache type was diagnosed. The International Headache Society recommendations for classification of all headache types in a single patient may lower inter-observer agreement on diagnoses in children. For purpose of evaluation of pharmacological, dietary, or psychosocial treatment regimens, selection of patients with a single headache diagnosis is important. The validity of the classification criteria for childhood headache may need to be re-examined.

 Wolstein JR Seshia SS Haese P Adams C Booth FA Reggin JD Inter-observer agreement in the diagnosis of childhood headache Headache 1994 Sep 34 8 467 70 10.1111/j.1526-4610.1994.hed3408467.x 7960731