Objective To evaluate the diagnosis value of purified protein derivative (PPD) antibody tests in childhood tuberculosis. Methods We reviewed 126 cases of hospitalization children tested body fluid PPD antibody by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Twenty-two them were diagnosed with tuberculosis. We determined the sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic likelihood ratio, positive prognostic value, negative prognostic value, post-test probability, respectively. Results The following accuracy statistics for the PPD body liquid antibody tests in this study: sensitivity, 45.45%; specificity, 91.35%; diagnostic likelihood ratio positive, 5.25; diagnostic likelihood ratio negative, 0.597; positive predictive value, 52.63%; negative predictive value, 88.79% and post-test probability, 48.09% in 15% of prevalence. Conclusion This study shows that body fluid PPD tests have limited value for diagnosis of tuberculosis in pediatric tuberculosis. Clinic physicians should be wary of the positive results of body fluid PPD antibody tests. The value of diagnosis is related to prevalence of tuberculosis in the specific hospital.
Based on the guidelines of the diagnostic test systematic review, this study elaborated the statistical processing of the pooling of data detailed in the systematic review of diagnostic test, discussed the methods for identification and handling of the heterogeneity, evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of the index of the accuracy in diagnostic tests, and proposed the identification method of the publication bias. It also took the data from the published article entitled “Diagnostic Value of ProGRP and NSE for Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis” as an example for analysis and illustration, which presented clearly the data processing and interpretation of the systematic review of diagnostic test, in order to provide references for clinical researchers to study and conduct the systematic review of diagnostic test.
Diagnosis is the critical component of health care and the studies of diagnostic test can provide important evidence for clinical decisions. Studies of diagnostic test are subject to different sources of bias in design, performance and reporting of studies. Therefore, researchers who understand various sources of bias can reasonably perform the diagnostic test and evaluate its quality, and will provide scientific evidences for clinical practice.
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-D detection for the diagnosis of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) by Meta-analysis. Methods Literatures published before August 2017 were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, China Biology Medicine database, China National Knowledge Internet, Wangfang, and VIP database to retrieve the study about VEGF-D detection for LAM. The studies were screened according to the inclusive and exclusive criteria, the data were extracted, the quality was assessed and the Meta-analysis was performed with related statistical software. Results Six primary studies were included and 521 patients met the inclusion criterion. The Meta-analysis showed the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odds ratio of 0.75 [95% confidence interval (CI) (0.70, 0.79)], 0.95 [95%CI (0.91, 0.98)], 16.20 [95%CI (8.70, 30.19)], 0.20 [95%CI (0.10, 0.40)] and 89.49 [95%CI (38.46, 208.22)], respectively. The area under the curve was 0.953 9. Conclusions VEGF-D detection showes a good diagnostic value for LAM. A positive result is more clinical meaningful compared with a negative result, helping for the confirmation of the disease.
Machine learning-based diagnostic tests have certain differences of measurement indicators with traditional diagnostic tests. In this paper, we elaborate the definitions, calculation methods and statistical inferences of common measurement indicators of machine learning-based diagnosis models in detail. We hope that this paper will be helpful for clinical researchers to better evaluate machine learning diagnostic models.
Objective To evaluate the quality of diagnostic studies on detecting anti-cyclic citrullonated peptide antibody to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. Methods We searched PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, and CBM to collect studies on using anti-cyclic citrullonated peptide antibody to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. QUADAS items were used to evaluate the quality of included studies. Results A total of 195 studies were included. Sixty-nine were English studies and 126 were Chinese studies. All studies had good descriptions of the spectrum of patients and little potential for partial verification bias, differential verification bias, and incorporation bias. However, most studies were prone to disease progression bias, review bias, and clinical review bias. One study did not explain the intermediate test results, and another did not report part of the test results. The overall quality of English studies was better than that of Chinese studies. Conclusion The potential bias of the included studies mainly resulted from the absence of blinding when interpreting the test results. The reporting quality of the included studies was poor.
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the aberrant methylation of genes in stool for colorectal tumor. Methods Databases including The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, CBM, Web of Science, CNKI and WanFang Data were searched to collect the diagnostic trials on the aberrant methylation of genes in stool for colorectal tumor published from January 1990 to February 2012. QUADAS items were used to evaluate the quality of the included studies, and the meta-analysis was conducted using Meta-Disc 1.4 software. Results A total of 32 studies involving 3 951 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, for detecting the colorectal tumor, the weighted sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve and Q were 92% (95%CI 91% to 93%), 63% (95%CI 61% to 65%), 20.79 (95%CI 15.13 to 28.57), 0.861 9 (SE=0.020 4), and 0.792 6 (SE=0.019 8), respectively. For detecting the colorectal cancer, the weighted sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) were 91% (95%CI 89% to 92%), 75% (95%CI 73% to 77%), and 0.900 7, respectively. For detecting the colorectal adenoma, the weighted sensitivity, specificity and AUC were 79% (95%CI 76% to 83%), 75% (95%CI 73% to 77%), and 0.845 7, respectively. Conclusion With high sensitivity (92%) and moderate specificity (63%), aberrant methylation of genes in stool can be used as an optional noninvasive method for the diagnosis of colorectal tumor.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the accuracy of the global leadership initiative on malnutrition (GLIM) in screening patients with cancer malnutrition. MethodsThe PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, WanFang Data, SinoMed, and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect diagnostic tests related to the objectives from January 2019 to March 2024. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using Stata 15.0 software. ResultsA total of 12 studies were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that GLIM criteria for the diagnosis of malnutrition had a sensitivity of 0.69 (95%CI 0.63 to 0.76), specificity of 0.90 (95%CI 0.83 to 0.95), positive likelihood ratio of 7.18 (95%CI 4.17 to 12.35), negative likelihood ratio of 0.34 (95%CI 0.28 to 0.41), diagnostic odds ratio of 21.21 (95%CI 11.96 to 37.62), and area under the curve of 0.84 (95%CI 0.80 to 0.87). ConclusionCurrent evidence suggests that the GLIM criteria have diagnostic value as a tool for malnutrition in cancer patients, with moderate overall diagnostic efficacy.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and efficacy of X-ray for evaluating the tip position of umbilical venous catheterization (UVC). MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases were electronically searched to collect diagnostic tests for UVC tip localisation from inception to 1 May 2023. Two reviewers independently screened the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data and assessed the quality of the studies using the QUADAS-2 tool. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 16.0 software. Results Twelve articles involving 1 055 patients were included. The sensitivity and specificity of Negar Yazdani’s study were both 100%. The results of the meta-analysis (the remaining eleven articles, n=951) indicated a pooled sensitivity of 0.7 (95%CI 0.6 to 0.8), a pooled specificity of 0.8 (95%CI 0.7 to 0.9), a positive likelihood ratio of 4.0 (95%CI 2.0 to 8.1), a negative likelihood ratio of 0.4 (95%CI 0.2 to 0.6) and a diagnostic odds ratio of 11 (95%CI 3 to 36) with an area under the cumulative receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.8 (95%CI 0.8 to 0.9). A subgroup analysis was performed according to the different methods of judging X, the 8th–9th thoracic, the 9th–10th thoracic and combined judgement of the diaphragmatic plane + the vertebral body + the heart shadow. The sensitivities of the 3 groups were 0.8 (95%CI 0.5 to 0.9), 0.5 (95%CI 0.4 to 0.7) and 0.8 (95%CI 0.6 to 0.9); the specificities of the 3 groups were 0.8 (95%CI 0.6 to 0.9), 0.76 (95%CI 0.6 to 0.9) and 0.91 (95%CI 0.79 to 0.96). The areas under the cumulative receiver operating characteristic curve were 0.9 (95%CI 0.8 to 0.9), 0.7 (95%CI 0.6 to 0.7) and 0.92 (95%CI 0.89 to 0.94). ConclusionSome error is present when determining the catheter tip position by X-ray, in which the evaluation of the umbilical vein catheter tip position through a comprehensive evaluation of the diaphragmatic plane, the heart margin and the vertebral body is more powerful than the evaluation of the vertebral body alone.