Abstract
Literature concerning the value of diagnostic tests is poorly indexed in electronic bibliographical databases. An extensive, sensitive and specific search strategy for evaluation of a diagnostic test in Medline is a combination of key words or text words concerning the diagnostic test with: 'sensitivity and specificity' (exploded), 'mass screening' (exploded), 'reference values', 'false positive reactions', 'false negative reactions', 'specificit$.tw', 'screening.tw', 'false positive$.tw', 'false negative$.tw', 'accuracy.tw', 'predictive value$.tw', 'reference value$.tw', 'roc$.tw' or 'likelihood ratio$.tw'. Inclusion and exclusion criteria select publications which meet certain minimum requirements, such as the presence of an accepted reference standard, a clear definition of 'diseased', and the presence of a suitable outcome measure. The methodological assessment list should contain a number of validity criteria as well as a number of criteria by which to measure the extent to which the study results can be generalised. Important assessment criteria that may affect the diagnostic value of the test are: study design, blinding, use of different reference standards, the absence of details about the diagnostic criteria for the diagnostic test and insufficient information about the study population.
| Translated title of the contribution | Systematic reviews in practice. X. Searching, selecting and the methodological assessment of diagnostic evaluation research |
|---|---|
| Original language | Dutch |
| Pages (from-to) | 2281-4 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde |
| Volume | 146 |
| Issue number | 48 |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Nov 2002 |
Keywords
- Diagnostic Tests, Routine
- Humans
- MEDLINE
- Predictive Value of Tests
- Reference Standards
- Reproducibility of Results
- Research
- Review Literature as Topic
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- English Abstract
- Journal Article