Table 1.
Descriptive characteristics of 127 reviews of comparative accuracy and multiple tests
| Characteristic | Comparative reviews |
Multiple test reviews | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistical test performed to compare accuracy | ||||
| Yes | No or uncleara | |||
| Number of reviews | 53 (42) | 29 (23) | 45 (35) | 127 |
| Year of publication | ||||
| 2008 | 14 (26) | 11 (38) | 13 (29) | 38 (30) |
| 2009 | 6 (11) | 10 (34) | 8 (18) | 24 (19) |
| 2010 | 16 (30) | 4 (14) | 11 (24) | 31 (24) |
| 2011 | 13 (25) | 3 (10) | 7 (16) | 23 (18) |
| 2012b | 4 (8) | 1 (3) | 6 (13) | 11 (9) |
| Type of publication | ||||
| Cochrane review | 3 (6) | 1 (3) | 1 (2) | 5 (4) |
| General medical journal | 5 (9) | 5 (17) | 13 (29) | 23 (18) |
| Specialist medical journal | 42 (79) | 22 (76) | 30 (64) | 93 (73) |
| Technology assessment report | 3 (6) | 1 (3) | 2 (4) | 6 (5) |
| Number of tests evaluated | ||||
| 2 | 20 (38) | 14 (48) | 12 (27) | 46 (36) |
| 3 | 12 (23) | 6 (21) | 4 (9) | 22 (17) |
| 4 | 8 (15) | 3 (10) | 4 (9) | 15 (12) |
| ≥5 | 13 (25) | 6 (21) | 25 (56) | 44 (35) |
| Clinical topic (according to ICD-11 Version: 2018) | ||||
| Circulatory system | 9 (17) | 5 (17) | 5 (11) | 19 (15) |
| Digestive system | 3 (6) | 1 (3) | 8 (18) | 12 (9) |
| Infectious and parasitic diseases | 3 (6) | 4 (14) | 9 (20) | 16 (13) |
| Injury, poisoning, and certain other consequences of external causes | 2 (4) | 1 (3) | 2 (4) | 5 (4) |
| Mental, behavioral, or neurodevelopmental disorders | 2 (4) | 1 (3) | 3 (7) | 6 (5) |
| Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | 4 (9) | 6 (5) |
| Neoplasms | 28 (53) | 12 (41) | 7 (16) | 47 (37) |
| Other ICD-11 codesc | 5 (9) | 4 (14) | 7 (16) | 16 (13) |
| Type of tests evaluated | ||||
| Biopsy | 0 | 1 (3) | 0 | 1 (1) |
| Clinical and physical examination | 5 (9) | 3 (10) | 15 (33) | 23 (18) |
| Device | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) |
| Imaging | 32 (60) | 13 (45) | 9 (20) | 54 (43) |
| Laboratory | 8 (15) | 8 (28) | 12 (27) | 28 (22) |
| RDT or POCT | 1 (2) | 0 | 4 (9) | 5 (4) |
| Self-administered questionnaire | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | 0 | 2 (2) |
| Combinations of any of the aboved | 5 (9) | 3 (10) | 5 (11) | 13 (10) |
| Clinical purpose of the tests | ||||
| Diagnostic | 42 (79) | 23 (79) | 44 (98) | 109 (86) |
| Monitoring | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | 0 | 2 (2) |
| Prognostic/prediction | 0 | 1 (3) | 0 | 1 (1) |
| Response to treatment | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) |
| Screening | 3 (6) | 4 (14) | 1 (2) | 8 (6) |
| Staging | 6 (11) | 0 | 0 | 6 (5) |
| Number of test accuracy studies in reviews | ||||
| Median (range) | 25 (6–103) | 17 (5–82) | 19 (3–79) | 20 (3–103) |
| Interquartile range | 14–43 | 11–32 | 12–24 | 12–34 |
| Number of comparative studies | ||||
| Median (range) | 7 (0–59) | 6 (0–32) | 4 (0–52) | 6 (0–59) |
| Interquartile range | 4–14 | 1–11 | 2–10 | 3–11 |
| Number of noncomparative studies | ||||
| Median (range) | 17 (0–98) | 6 (0–79) | 10 (0–76) | 14 (0–98) |
| Interquartile range | 6–32 | 0–27 | 5–20 | 3–24 |
Abbreviations: ICD-11, International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision; RDT, rapid diagnostic test; POCT, point of care test.
Numbers in parentheses are column percentages unless otherwise stated. Percentages may not add up to 100% because of rounding.
a
In 3 reviews, it was unclear whether a statistical comparison of test accuracy was done.
b
Includes only studies published up to October 2012.
c
Includes 8 ICD-11 codes that had fewer than 5 reviews across the 3 groups.
d
Tests evaluated in a review were not of the same type.