학술논문

An approach for determining the reliability of manual and digital scoring of sleep stages
Original Article
Document Type
Academic Journal
Source
SLEEP. November 2023, Vol. 46 Issue 11, p1ae, 10 p.
Subject
Manitoba
Language
English
ISSN
0161-8105
Abstract
Introduction Reliability of sleep stage scoring on polysomnogram (PSG) among technologists, and between technologists and digital systems, has been traditionally evaluated by measuring percent of total epochs where stages assigned [...]
Study Objectives: Inter-scorer variability in sleep staging is largely due to equivocal epochs that contain features of more than one stage. We propose an approach that recognizes the existence of equivocal epochs and evaluates scorers accordingly. Methods: Epoch-by-epoch staging was performed on 70 polysomnograms by six qualified technologists and by a digital system (Michele Sleep Scoring [MSS]). Probability that epochs assigned the same stage by only two of the six technologists (minority score) resulted from random occurrence of two errors was calculated and found to be Results: Agreement of technologists tested against five qualified judges increased from 80.8% (range 70.5%-86.4% among technologists) when using the majority rule, to 96.1 (89.8%-98.5%) by the proposed approach. Agreement between unedited MSS and same judges was 90.0% and increased to 92.1% after brief editing. Conclusions: Accounting for equivocal epochs provides a more accurate estimate of a scorer's (human or digital) competence in scoring sleep stages and reduces inter-scorer disagreements. The proposed approach can be implemented in sleep-scoring training and accreditation programs. Key words: interrater variability; artificial intelligence; equivocal epochs