Table 2.

Best single terms for high sensitivity searches, high specificity searches, and searches that optimise the balance between sensitivity and specificity for retrieving studies of diagnosis. Values are percentages (95% confidence intervals)

Search strategy in Ovid format	Sensitivity (n=147)	Specificity (n=48 881)	Precision*	Accuracy (n=49 028)
High sensitivity†: di.xs.	91.8 (87.4 to 96.3)	68.3 (67.9 to 68.7)	0.9 (0.7 to 1.0)	68.4 (68.0 to 68.8)
High specificity‡: specificity.tw.	64.6 (56.9 to 72.4)	98.4 (98.2 to 98.5)	10.6 (8.6 to 12.6)	98.3 (98.1 to 98.4)
Optimising sensitivity and specificity§: exp “diagnostic techniques and procedures”	66.7 (59.1 to 74.3)	74.6 (74.2 to 75.0)	0.8 (0.6 to 0.9)	74.5 (74.2 to 74.9)

See box for description of terms.

^*Denominator varies by row; see table 1 for calculation.

^†Keeping specificity ≥50%.

^‡Keeping sensitivity ≥50%.

^§Keeping (abs(sensitivity-specificity)) to a minimum.