THE INTEREXAMINER RELIABILITY OF A GALVANIC SKIN-RESPONSE INSTRUMENT

Objective: To determine the interexaminer reliability of a protocol of use of a galvanic skin resistance device for detection of low resista nce areas along the spinal column, in relatively pain-free subjects. D esign: A blinded investigation of concordance of skin resistance exami nation findings over the spinal column using two clinicians experience d in the use of the instrument, Setting: A private practice chiropract ic outpatient clinic. Patients: Sixty-four male and female chiropracti c college students (mean age: 35 yr). The Visual Analog Pain Scale ind icated a mean response of 7.6 mm on a 100-mm range. Interventions: Non e. Main Outcome Measures: Concordance of examiners evaluated with the kappa statistic. Results: The results indicated modest levels of conco rdance for the first study sample (n = 46). The average kappa was 0.37 . The second group assessed (n = 18) also demonstrated only modest lev els of interexaminer concordance. The average kappa value for this sam ple was 0.36. Conclusion: The use of the Electrical Conductor Scanner instrument for evaluating putative spinal pathology through manifestat ions in skin resistance in relatively asymptomatic subjects is not sup ported by the results of this experiment. The unevenness of data gener ated from this experiment in certain spinal regions necessitates furth er investigation prior to making any strong conclusions regarding the usefulness of this instrument in the clinical setting.