Abstract
Systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) are increasingly being published. Diagnostic accuracy is the ability of a test to discriminate between those who have or do not have a target condition. The accuracy of a test is determined by assessing the results of an index test against a reference standard, sometimes known as the ‘gold’ standard. The reference standard is the best available way to verify the presence or absence of the target condition. DTA systematic reviews summarise evidence on the accuracy of a single index test or compare the accuracy of two or more tests, including an investigation of the reasons for heterogeneity. Heterogeneity in DTA systematic reviews may be due to characteristics of the population, index test and reference standard, as well as the design and conduct characteristics of the studies. Systematic reviews of DTA present greater challenges than those of randomised controlled trials of interventions. This chapter briefly covers the principles and practice of systematic reviews of DTA.
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Pammi, M., Takwoingi, Y. (2021). Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy. In: Patole, S. (eds) Principles and Practice of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71921-0_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71921-0_15
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