Table 2.
Pooled estimates of diagnostic accuracy of D-dimer testing in older patients with suspected venous thromboembolism and non-high clinical probability per age category and cut-off value in 13 study cohorts
| Age (years) | No of patients | Median (range) prevalence within studies (%) | Pooled sensitivity (95% CI) | Pooled specificity (95% CI) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional cut-off (%) | Age adjusted cut-off (%) | P value | Conventional cut-off (%) | Age adjusted cut-off (%) | P value | ||||
| ≤50 | 5528* | 12.3 (3.09-28.6) | 97.6 (95.0 to 98.9) | NA† | NA† | 66.8 (61.3 to 72.0) | NA† | NA† | |
| 51-60 | 2043* | 13.4 (5.00-33.3) | 100.0 (NA) | 99.4 (97.3 to 99.9) | 0.97 | 57.6 (51.4 to 63.6) | 62.3 (56.2 to 68.0) | 0.005 | |
| 61-70 | 1815 | 15.6 (6.58-26.2) | 99.0 (96.6 to 99.7) | 97.3 (93.8 to 98.8) | 0.14 | 39.4 (33.5 to 45.6) | 49.5 (43.2 to 55.8) | <0.001 | |
| 71-80 | 1842 | 21.5 (6.78-34.5) | 98.7 (96.5 to 99.5) | 97.3 (94.3 to 98.8) | 0.20 | 24.5 (20.0 to 29.7) | 44.2 (38.0 to 50.5) | <0.001 | |
| >80 | 1269 | 15.2 (5.88-26.9) | 99.6 (96.9 to 99.9) | 97.0 (92.9 to 98.8) | 0.06 | 14.7 (11.3 to 18.6) | 35.2 (29.4 to 41.5) | <0.001 | |
*Additional data of cohort 5 of Douma 2012 study (Tan et al, unpublished), were not provided for these age categories (89 patients aged <50 years and 44 patients aged 51-60 years).
†Age adjusted cut-off value (age×50 µg/L) does not apply (NA) to patients aged ≤50 years.