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Telemedicine Not Reliable for Assessing Criteria for Acute Sore Throat

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 5, 2025.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 3, 2025 -- Telemedicine is not reliable for assessing Centor criteria for patients with an acute sore throat, according to a study published online Jan. 2 in Infectious Diseases.

Patrycja Woldan-Gradalska, M.D., from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues compared the interrater reliability of Centor score assessments via telemedicine versus in-person examinations among patients seeking care for a sore throat. Each of the 189 patients initially underwent a telemedicine evaluation, followed by an in-person assessment by an independent physician who was unaware of the outcome of the initial evaluation.

Of the patients, 114 were female and 148 were adults. The researchers found that when comparing assessments of lymph nodes, tonsils, and the total Centor score, agreement was low, with kappa between 0.47 and 0.58. For history of fever and absence of cough, kappa was potentially acceptable. Kappa of the total Centor score was not affected by subgrouping of participants into children and adults.

"The observed undesired agreement between telemedicine and in-person assessment of the total Centor score, along with the potentially undesired agreement for assessments of lymph nodes and tonsils, indicates that telemedicine does not achieve an acceptable level of accuracy," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted January 2025

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