Abstract
New diagnostic tests for the evaluation of patients with low back pain are constantly emerging, but are often not completely evaluated before they become used. Many published studies have a number of biases that tend to exaggerate the estimated accuracy of a diagnostic test. Several key study design features should be considered in such studies: independent comparison of the diagnostic test results with an appropriate "gold standard"; blinded assessment of the new test and the gold standard or competing tests; the reproducibility of interpretation of the test being examined; and the sensitivity and specificity of the test for the final gold standard diagnosis. In addition, evaluations of test accuracy should include patients with a wide spectrum of illness from mild to severe, and the study setting and patient characteristics should be described in detail.Finally, the contribution of a diagnostic test to the overall validity of a full group or sequence of tests should be considered, and, ideally, the effect of the test on actual patient outcomes should be determined.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2057-2065 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Spine |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1994 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Diagnosis
- Diagnostic tests
- Imaging studies
- Sensitivity
- Specificity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
- Clinical Neurology