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. 2021 Mar 16;2021(3):CD013639. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013639.pub4

Deng 2020.

Study characteristics
Patient Sampling Study design: patients with suspected COVID‐19, all symptomatic
Patient characteristics and setting Age group: children and adults
Setting: unclear
Index tests Index test(s): chest CT (high resolution)
Defintion for positive diagnosis on CT:
  1. any one of the following:

    1. single, multiple, or diffuse GGO, with thickened blood vessels and thickened bronchial shadows passing through, with or without localised lobular septal grid thickening

    2. single or multiple real shadows

  2. re‐examination 3‐5 days later showed that the original GGO or consolidation range increased, the number increased, or accompanied by pleural effusion on one or both sides


Level of training of readers: radiologist
Prevalence: 0.7
Target condition and reference standard(s) Reference standard: RT‐PCR once
Flow and timing  
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? Unclear    
Was a case‐control design avoided? Yes    
Did the study avoid inappropriate exclusions? Yes    
Could the selection of patients have introduced bias?   Unclear risk  
Are there concerns that the included patients and setting do not match the review question?     Low concern
DOMAIN 2: Index Test (Chest CT)
Were the index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the reference standard? Yes    
If a threshold was used, was it pre‐specified? Yes    
Could the conduct or interpretation of the index test have introduced bias?   Low risk  
Are there concerns that the index test, its conduct, or interpretation differ from the review question?     Low concern
DOMAIN 2: Index Test (Chest X‐ray)
DOMAIN 2: Index Test (Ultrasound of the lungs)
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?   Unclear risk