White 2017.
| Study characteristics | |||
| Patient Sampling | Retrospective case‐control study of patients with BDG testing | ||
| Patient characteristics and setting | Cases and controls were both at risk for invasive fungal conditions. Patients had the following underlying conditions: HIV, organ transplant, and hematology malignancies | ||
| Index tests | Dynamiker Fungus test using 95 pg/mL as cut‐off for positivity | ||
| Target condition and reference standard(s) | Mixed IFI determined by the 2008 EORTC criteria; unclear if BDG was excluded. PJP diagnosed by PCR and/or radiologic evidence | ||
| Flow and timing | Unclear time frame between sample and reference standard; all received index test and reference standard and were included in the analysis | ||
| Comparative | |||
| Notes | |||
| Methodological quality | |||
| Item | Authors' judgement | Risk of bias | Applicability concerns |
| DOMAIN 1: Patient Selection | |||
| Was a consecutive or random sample of patients enrolled? | No | ||
| Was a case‐control design avoided? | No | ||
| Did the study avoid inappropriate exclusions? | Yes | ||
| Could the selection of patients have introduced bias? | High risk | ||
| Are there concerns that the included patients and setting do not match the review question? | Low concern | ||
| DOMAIN 3: Reference Standard | |||
| Is the reference standards likely to correctly classify the target condition? | Yes | ||
| Were the reference standard results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the index tests? | Unclear | ||
| Could the reference standard, its conduct, or its interpretation have introduced bias? | Low risk | ||
| Are there concerns that the target condition as defined by the reference standard does not match the question? | Low concern | ||
| DOMAIN 4: Flow and Timing | |||
| Was there an appropriate interval between index test and reference standard? | Unclear | ||
| Did all patients receive the same reference standard? | Yes | ||
| Were all patients included in the analysis? | Yes | ||
| Could the patient flow have introduced bias? | Low risk | ||
BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage; BDG: beta‐D‐glucan test; BMT: bone marrow transplant; EORTC: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer; IA: inflammatory arthritis; IFI: Invasive fungal infection; GM: galactomannan; HSCT: hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; ICU: Intensive care unit; NICU: neonatal intensive care unit; PJP: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia; PCR: polymerase chain reaction.