Intra- and Interrater Reliability of Infrared Image Analysis of Facial Acupoints in Individuals with Facial Paralysis

Table 6

The inconsistent rate of temperature values of facial acupoints and temperature difference values between left and right acupoints in patients with Bell’s palsy during repeated measurements.

Acupoint	Intrarater disagreement		Interrater disagreement
	Tsk1-2 > 0.5	ΔT1-2 > 0.5	Tsk1-2 > 0.5	ΔT1-2 > 0.5
GB14	1.92% (2/104)	1.92% (7/52)	3.85% (4/104)	19.2% (10/52)
LI20	5.77% (6/104)	5.77% (3/52)	15.4% (16/104)	17.3% (9/52)
ST4	9.62% (10/104)	19.2% (10/52)	3.85% (4/104)	17.3% (9/52)
EX-HN5	19.2% (20/104)	25% (13/52)	20.2% (21/104)	34.6% (18/52)
ST6	19.2% (20/104)	32.7% (17/52)	32.7% (34/104)	30.8% (16/52)
ST7	22.1% (23/104)	23.1% (12/52)	48.1% (50/104)	25% (13/52)

Note: Subscript 1-2 represents the first measurement and the second measurement. The Tsk of each acupoint area contains skin temperature values in two regions of interest (ROIs) on the left and right sides of the face. ΔT represents the absolute value of the temperature difference between the two ROIs on the left and right sides of an acupoint. In this study, the inconsistency between the two T_sk values in two repeated measurements is defined as that the absolute value of the difference between the two measurements is greater than 0.5°C. The inconsistency between the two ΔT values is defined as a ΔT of less than 0.5°C, while the other measured ΔT is greater than 0.5°C. T_sk1-2 > 0.5 and ΔT_1-2 > 0.5 refers to the ratio between the number of inconsistent measurements and the total number of measurements in the repeated measurements.