Gieseker 2002b.

Study characteristics
Patient sampling	See Gieseker 2002a
Patient characteristics and setting	See Gieseker 2002a
Index tests	Throat swab: 2 different swabs Commercial name of the RADTs: OSOM Ultra Strep A (Genzyme) Type of RADTs: EIA
Target condition and reference standard(s)	See Gieseker 2002a
Flow and timing	No follow‐up
Comparative
Type of study	Journal article
Notes	Supported by a grant from one of the manufacturers of the RADTs under evaluation (Genzyme)
Methodological quality
Item	Authors' judgement	Risk of bias	Applicability concerns
DOMAIN 1: Patient Selection
Was a consecutive or random sample of patients enrolled?	Unclear
Was it a cross‐sectional study or a RCT?	Yes
Were selection criteria clearly described (at least presenting signs and symptoms and age limits for inclusion)?	No
Was clinical selection of patients avoided?	No
Were patients seen in an ambulatory care setting?	Yes
		High	High
DOMAIN 2: Index Test All tests
Were the RADT results interpreted with blinding of the results of culture?	Yes
Was the type of the RADT mentioned (EIA or OIA)?	Yes
Were RADTs conducted during consultation time?	No
		Low	High
DOMAIN 3: Reference Standard
Were culture results interpreted with blinding of the results of the RADT?	Unclear
Is the throat culture method likely to correctly identify GAS (laboratory culture on a blood agar plate during 48 hr)?	Yes
Were the culture medium, atmosphere, duration of incubation and GAS‐confirmation technique described?	Yes
		Unclear	Low
DOMAIN 4: Flow and Timing
Was the delay between the performance of the RADT and throat culture plating less than 48 hours?	No
Did all patients receive a throat culture?	Yes
Did patients receive the same throat culture method?	Yes
Were undetermined/uninterpretable results reported?	No
Were withdrawals from the study explained?	Yes
		Low