STUDY OF VARIABILITY IN TUBERCULIN TEST READING

Abstract

The tuberculin testing procedure is subject to variation in all of its phases. The results of this paper demonstrate one dimension of this variation, namely, the differences in interpretation among readers. It is shown that the variability from reader to reader is nearly as great as the biologic variability from subject to subject. Whereas the tuberculin test is designed to discover the biologic variability, the variability in interpretation should be controlled and reduced by training testers and readers.