A Comparison of Some Alternative Procedures in the Classification of Chest Radiographs for Coal-workers' Pneumoconiosis

摘要

This paper is concerned with the problem of reading individual chest radiographs for coal-workers' pneumoconiosis in terms of the I.L.O. (1953) classifications, using a group of four readers. It represents the first of a series of investigations by the National Coal Board's Pneumoconiosis Field Research into various aspects of the general subject of the classification of chest radiographs. Later papers in this series will cover related problems, including the effect of radiographic “technique” on reading standards, the classification of a series of radiographs of the same individual, and the use of the readings in the correlation of radiographic abnormality with environmental exposure.