Aim: Verification of the interrater reliability of axis I diagnoses of the German version of the DC/TMD. The hypothesis was that the DC/TMD protocol yields comparable results, if examiner instructions are closely followed.
Material and methods: A culturally equivalent German translation of the DC/TMD was developed. During a 1-day calibration workshop at the University of Heidelberg, three examiners were trained by the DC/TMD Training and Calibration Center. According to the calibration guidelines, 16 models (11 cases, five non-cases) were examined by four experienced TMD specialists. Reliability was calculated with reference to the reference standard examiner as percentage agreement and kappa coefficients for DC/TMD diagnoses and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for findings.
Results: Excellent reliability was achieved for the diagnoses myalgia, myofascial pain with referral, arthralgia, headache attributed to TMD, disc displacement (DD) with reduction, DD without reduction without limited opening (κ = 0.85…1.00). Degenerative joint disease was diagnosed with substantial agreement (κ = 0.64), DD with reduction with intermittent locking and DD without reduction with limited opening were not present in our sample. Overall percentage agreement was 94%-100% for all diagnoses.
Conclusion: The German version of the DC/TMD shows very good reliability and can be recommended for the use in clinical and research settings.
Keywords: disc displacement; headache; myofascial pain; orofacial pain; temporomandibular disorders; temporomandibular joint.
© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.