LSHTM Research Online

Peeling, RW; Smith, PG; Bossuyt, PM; (2006) A guide for diagnostic evaluations. Nature reviews Microbiology, 4 (12 Suppl). S2-6. ISSN 1740-1526 DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1568

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Abstract

Accurate diagnostic tests have a key role in patient management and the control of most infectious diseases. Unfortunately, in many developing countries, clinical care is often critically compromised by the lack of regulatory controls on the quality of these tests. The information available on the performance of a diagnostic test can be biased or flawed because of failings in the design of the studies which assessed the performance characteristics of the test. As a result, diagnostic tests are sold and used in much of the developing world without evidence of effectiveness. Misdiagnosis leading to failure to treat a serious infection or wasting expensive treatment on people who are not infected remains a serious obstacle to health.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Communicable Diseases/*diagnosis, *Developing Countries, Diagnostic Tests, Routine/*standards, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Guidelines as Topic, Humans, Quality Control, Communicable Diseases, diagnosis, Developing Countries, Diagnostic Tests, Routine, standards, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Guidelines as Topic, Humans, Quality Control
Faculty and Department:	Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases > Dept of Clinical Research
Research Centre:	Centre for Global Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
PubMed ID:	17110921
Web of Science ID:	242413600002
URI:	http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/4681

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