Table 3.
Quality Assessment
| Study, year | Consecutive or random sample | Blinding of outcomes assessment to Tg test | Low attrition or missing data | Appropriate reference standard | Same reference standard in all patients | Prespecified Tg threshold | Timing of Tg testing and assessment of outcomes reported | Quality | Other limitations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tg testing following partial thyroidectomy | |||||||||
| Alzahrani, 2002 (7) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (Tg testing) | Fair | |
| Park, 2018 (30) | Unclear | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Poor | |
| Ritter, 2020 (33) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | Poor | |
| Vaisman, 2013 (39) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Fair | Minor data discrepancya |
| Tg testing following total or near-total thyroidectomy without RAI therapy | |||||||||
| Durante, 2012 (9) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Unclear (Tg testing and follow-up duration) | Fair | |
| Janovsky, 2016 (14) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Fair | |
| Matrone, 2020 (24) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear (Tg testing and follow-up duration) | Poor | |
| Nascimento, 2013 (27) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | Poor | |
| van Wyngaarden, 1997 (40) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Not applicable | Unclear (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Postoperative thyroglobulin testing before RAI therapy | |||||||||
| Caballero-Calabuig, 2008 (8) | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Fair | |
| Giovanella, 2008 (10) | Yes | No | Unclear | No | Yes | No | Yes | Fair | |
| Grunwald, 1996 (11) | Unclear | No | Unclear | No | Yes | No | Yes | Poor | |
| Hasbek, 2014 (12) | Yes | No | Unclear | No | Yes | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Heemstra, 2007 (13) | Yes | No | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | 82 patients with anti-TgAb excluded |
| Kim, 2013 (15) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Kim, 2005 (16) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Fair | |
| Krajewska, 2016 (17) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (Tg testing) | Fair | Data discrepancy presentb |
| Latrofa, 2016 (18) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Fair | |
| Ledwon, 2021 (19) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Yes | No | No | Yes | Poor | |
| Lima, 2002 (20) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | No | Yes | Poor | Data discrepancy presentb |
| Lin, 2011 (21) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Poor | |
| Makarewicz, 2006 (22) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Not applicable | Yes | Poor | |
| Makarewicz, 2006 (23) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | No | No (Tg testing and follow-up duration) | Poor | |
| Matrone, 2017 (25) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Fair | |
| Matthews, 2016 (26) | Yes | No | No | Unclear | Unclear | No | No (Tg testing and follow-up duration) | Poor | |
| Ng, 2000 (28) | Unclear | No | Unclear | No | No | Yes | No (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Oyen, 2000 (29) | Unclear | No | Yes | Unclear | No | Yes | No | Poor | |
| Polachek, 2011 (31) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | No | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Prabhu, 2018 (43) | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | No | Yes | No | Yes | Poor | |
| Ren, 2021 (32) | Unclear | No | Unclear | Yes | No | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Ronga, 1999 (34) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | No | No (follow-up duration) | Poor | |
| Rosario, 2011 (35) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Fair | |
| Szujo, 2021 (36) | Unclear | No | No | Unclear | Unclear | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | Data discrepancy presentb |
| Torlantano, 2006 (37) | Yes | No | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | Unclear | Yes | Poor | |
| Toubeau, 2004 (38) | Yes | No | No | Yes | Unclear | Unclear | Yes | Poor | |
| Zerva, 2006 (41) | Unclear | No | Unclear | No | Yes | No | No (Tg testing) | Poor | |
| Zhao, 2017 (42) | Yes | No | Unclear | Yes | Yes | No | No (Tg testing and follow-up duration) | Poor | Cutoffs for change in Tg and change in Tg/change in TSH unclear |
a
Study reports 14 false-positive patients, which would result in specificity of 0.78 (51/65) rather than 0.80 as reported in study.
b
Discrepancy between reported diagnostic accuracy and data reported in study; diagnostic accuracy calculated from data in study.