Intra- and inter-rater accuracy and reliability of the ocular vergence test

Acurácia e confiabilidade intra e interavaliador do teste de vergência ocular

Abstract

Introduction  Convergence insufficiency is the inability to achieve and maintain adequate convergence without effort, associated with symptoms such as eye strain and headaches. Furthermore, the literature lacks information on the different tests used to assess convergence.

Objective  To determine the accuracy and intra- and inter-rater reliability of the ocular vergence test.

Methods  A cohort of 123 volunteers of both sexes, aged between 18 and 49 years, was recruited. The Convergence In-sufficiency Symptom Survey was applied, and the near point of convergence was evaluated. A battery of tests was administered by three different evaluators across two days. The linear-weighted Cohen's Kappa coeffi-cient was used to assess intra- and inter-rater reliability and agreement.

Results  The analysis of agreement for the ocular vergence test revealed moderate inter-rater (Kappa = 0.43 to 0.59) and intrarater (Kappa = 0.40 to 0.75) reliability, coupled with low accuracy (AUC = 0.53) for the methodology employed.

Conclusion  The ocular vergence test demonstrated moderate reliability but low accuracy.

Keywords
Ocular convergence; Ocular motility disorders; Data reliability; Test reproducibility