Variability in interpretation among B-readers in the U.S. Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program.

U.S. Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program B-reading reports were analyzed for variability in identifying pneumoconiosis in 278,944 chest radiographs done from 1990 to 2004 using commercial database and statistical software.

Changes in B-readings over time in the United States Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program.

Objective: To study the impact of variability among B-readers on clinical occupational medicine.

Methods: A total of 419,770 B-reading reports from February 1980 to May 2004 in the US Navy Asbestos Medical Surveillance Program were analyzed for changes in category from the previous B-reading on each individual worker.

Results: Over 7% of films were categorized as worse (ie, read as going from negative to positive), and over 6% were categorized as better.