Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis program: examination for certification during 2008-2020.

This study examined physicians' participation and performance in the examinations administered by the Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis (AIR Pneumo) program from 2008 to 2020 and compared radiograph readings of physicians who passed with those who failed the examinations. Demography of the participants, participation trends, pass/fail rates, and proficiency scores were summarized; differences in reading the radiographs for pneumoconiosis of physicians who passed the examinations and those who failed were evaluated. By December 2020, 555 physicians from 20 countries had taken certification examinations; the number of participants increased in recent years.

Inter-observer agreement and accuracy in classifying radiographs for pneumoconiosis among Asian physicians taking AIR Pneumo certification examination.

This study examined inter-observer agreement and diagnostic accuracy in classifying radiographs for pneumoconiosis among Asian physicians taking the AIR Pneumo examination. We compared agreement and diagnostic accuracy for parenchymal and pleural lesions across residing countries, specialty training, and work experience using data on 93 physicians. Physicians demonstrated fair to good agreement with kappa values 0.

Diagnosing pneumonia in rural Thailand: Digital cameras versus film digitizers for chest radiograph teleradiology.

Background: Accurate surveillance for pneumonia requires standardized classification of chest radiographs. Digital imaging permits rapid electronic transfer of data to radiologists, and recent improvements in digital camera technology present high quality, yet cheaper, options.

Methods: We evaluated the comparative utility of digital camera versus film digitizer in capturing chest radiographs in a pneumonia surveillance system in rural Thailand using a panel of radiologists; the gold standard was the hard-copy radiograph.