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Network Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies

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Diagnostic Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Standard meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy studies synthesize evidence from a single diagnostic test, often using the bivariate model. For comparison of multiple tests in a meta-analysis, methodology has evolved only recently. In this chapter, we present a number of approaches designed to this aim, sometimes labeled “network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies.” We point to an important difference between multiple tests and multiple interventions: whereas interventions are usually compared between independent groups, multiple tests are typically compared in the same subjects within a study. Thus, meta-analytic methods for comparing multiple tests cannot simply use methods of network meta-analysis but have to account for the different correlation structure in diagnostic accuracy data.

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Acknowledgments

The author gratefully thanks Philipp Doebler, Paul-Christian Bürkner, and Martin Schumacher for valuable hints and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center—University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Gerta Rücker

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  1. Gerta Rücker
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Correspondence to Gerta Rücker .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Latina, Italy

    Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai

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Rücker, G. (2018). Network Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies. In: Biondi-Zoccai, G. (eds) Diagnostic Meta-Analysis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78966-8_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78966-8_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78965-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78966-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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