Abstract: ObjectiveTo examine the the inter-rater reliability of the Chinese version of Lequesne index as the effective treatment evaluation of patients with knee osteoarthritis.Methods30 patients with radiological findings and clinical symptoms of knee osteoarthritis were evaluated the Chinese version of Lequesne index twice by two staff who passed the Lequesne index formal training within 24 hours. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Bland & Altman method.ResultsInter-rater reliability was excellent with ICC=0.94. The Bland & Altman analysis revealed no systematic errors between inter-raters.ConclusionThe Chinese version of Lequesne index has high inter-rater reliability in subjects with knee osteoarthritis.

Key words: knee, osteoarthritis, Lequesne index, reliability