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Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the intra- and inter-rater reliability of pressure
pain threshold (PPT) and manual palpation (MP) of orofacial structures in symptomatic
and symptom-free children for temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Fourteen children
reporting pain in masticatory muscles or the temporomandibular joint and 16 symptom-free
children were randomly assessed on three different occasions: by rater-1 in the first
and third session and by rater-2 in the second session. The trained raters applied
algometry and MP as recommended by the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD. Intraclass
correlation coefficients and the Kappa statistic were used to assess the levels of
reliability of PPT and MP, respectively. Excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability
levels were observed for PPT values at most of the examined sites for symptom-free
children and excellent and moderate reliability levels for children reporting pain.
For MP, moderate and poor intra-rater and inter-rater reliability levels were observed
for most sites in both groups. Algometry showed higher reliability levels for both
groups of children and is recommended for pain assessment in children in association
with MP.