Iqbal 2003.

Clinical features and settings	Presenting signs and symptoms: History of fever for 2 to 3 days and possible malaria infection Previous treatment for malaria: Patients with a history of antimalarial use in the previous 4 weeks were excluded Clinical setting: Basic health units Country: Pakistan (central areas of Punjab) Malaria endemicity: Seasonal Malaria endemic species:P. falciparum andP. vivax
Participants	Sample size: 930 Age: Range 2 to 55 years (not clear whether this was an inclusion criteria or characteristic of included participants) Sex: Not mentioned, either as an inclusion criteria or a characteristic of the participants Co‐morbidities and pregnancy: Not mentioned, either as an inclusion criteria or a characteristic of the participants Parasite density of microscopy positive cases: Not presented
Study design	Enrollment was prospective. The sampling method was not described. One RDT was evaluated.
Target condition and reference standard(s)	Target condition: Malaria parasitaemia Reference standard: Microscopy thick blood films Person(s) performing microscopy: Experienced microscopist Microscopy setting: District Health Centre Number of high power fields examined before declaring negative: 200 Number of observer or repeats: One; however for quality assessment, 100 random slides were sent to the Microbiology Unit, University of Kuwait, for a second reading; these results were comparable to the District Health Centre results Resolution of discrepancies between observers: Not applicable
Index and comparator tests	Commerical name of RDT: OptiMAL (Flow Inc., Portland, Oregon, USA) Parasite(s) designed to detect:P. falciparum or mixed infection, non‐falciparum malaria species only Designated Type: Type 4 Batch numbers: Not stated Transport and storage conditions: Not described Person(s) performing RDT: Laboratory staff RDT setting: District Health Centre
Follow‐up	Not applicable
Notes	Source of funding: Kuwait University
Table of Methodological Quality
Item	Authors' judgement	Description
Representative spectrum? All tests	Unclear	All participants were attending basic health units with symptoms of malaria and history of fever, but the sampling method was not described
Acceptable reference standard? All tests	No	An microscopist working at a district laboratory viewed at least 200 high power fields before declaring a slide negative; however their findings were not verified by an independent observer
Partial verification avoided? All tests	Yes	All participants who received the index test also received the reference test
Differential verification avoided? All tests	Yes	The same reference test was used regardless of the index test results
Incorporation avoided? All tests	Yes	The index test does not form part of the reference standard
Reference standard results blinded? All tests	Yes	"tests were performed in a double‐blind manner"
Index test results blinded? All tests	Yes	"tests were performed in a double‐blind manner"
Uninterpretable results reported? All tests	Unclear	The numbers of participants originally enrolled in the study was not clearly stated, therefore it is unclear whether there were any exclusions due to invalid test results
Withdrawals explained? All tests	Unclear	The numbers of participants originally enrolled in the study was not clearly stated, therefore it is unclear whether there were any withdrawals