Assessing inter-rater reliability (IRR) of Tanner staging and orchidometer use with boys: a study from PROS.

Background: Few studies have systematically assessed the reliability of pubertal markers; most are flawed by limited numbers of markers and ages studied.

Aim: To conduct a comprehensive examination of inter-rater reliability in the assessment of boys' sexual maturity.

Subjects: Eight pairs of practitioners independently rated 79 consecutive boys aged 8-14 years.

Patient visits to a national practice-based research network: comparing pediatric research in office settings with the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Objective: Our objective with this study was to assess the extent to which patients who are seen by practitioners in Pediatric Research in Office Settings, a national primary care practice-based research network, are representative of those who are seen in ambulatory office-based pediatric primary care in the United States.

Methods: Pediatric Research in Office Settings patient data were collected from the offices of 57 randomly selected network practitioners as part of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded effort to describe primary care visits and replicate the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey in primary care practice-based research networks. These data were from 1706 randomly selected pediatric patient visits that occurred between March and June 2002.