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A common trap of diagnostic tests

A common trap of diagnostic tests letter to the editors Wien Klin Wochenschr (2017) 129:583–584 DOI 10.1007/s00508-017-1204-0 Disease prevalence and positive predictive value Johannes Mischlinger · Eva Schernhammer Received: 6 February 2017 / Accepted: 31 March 2017 / Published online: 26 April 2017 © Springer-Verlag Wien 2017 Dear editors, the percentage of all individuals with a specific dis- ease within a defined group of people. This implies rapid disease ascertainment has become routine in that the prevalence of diseases may vary significantly, everyday clinical practice and large-scale screening depending on the specific group in which it is as- programs [1, 2]. It is therefore of increasing impor- certained: The prevalence of malaria in an endemic tance to adequately take into account the perfor- Sub-Saharan African population will be higher than mance characteristics of the various test methods [3, in a population of refugees or travelers in Europe (see 4]. Sensitivity and specificity are two of these char- Table 1). Similarly, the prevalence of urinary tract acteristics. They are usually taught in medical school infections will be higher in patients with indwelling and are therefore widely known to physicians. Physi- catheters than in patients requiring only single, brief cians are less familiar with predictive values, although http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Wiener klinische Wochenschrift Springer Journals

A common trap of diagnostic tests

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References (8)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Springer-Verlag Wien
Subject
Medicine & Public Health; Medicine/Public Health, general; Internal Medicine; Endocrinology; Gastroenterology; Pneumology/Respiratory System
ISSN
0043-5325
eISSN
1613-7671
DOI
10.1007/s00508-017-1204-0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

letter to the editors Wien Klin Wochenschr (2017) 129:583–584 DOI 10.1007/s00508-017-1204-0 Disease prevalence and positive predictive value Johannes Mischlinger · Eva Schernhammer Received: 6 February 2017 / Accepted: 31 March 2017 / Published online: 26 April 2017 © Springer-Verlag Wien 2017 Dear editors, the percentage of all individuals with a specific dis- ease within a defined group of people. This implies rapid disease ascertainment has become routine in that the prevalence of diseases may vary significantly, everyday clinical practice and large-scale screening depending on the specific group in which it is as- programs [1, 2]. It is therefore of increasing impor- certained: The prevalence of malaria in an endemic tance to adequately take into account the perfor- Sub-Saharan African population will be higher than mance characteristics of the various test methods [3, in a population of refugees or travelers in Europe (see 4]. Sensitivity and specificity are two of these char- Table 1). Similarly, the prevalence of urinary tract acteristics. They are usually taught in medical school infections will be higher in patients with indwelling and are therefore widely known to physicians. Physi- catheters than in patients requiring only single, brief cians are less familiar with predictive values, although

Journal

Wiener klinische Wochenschrift – Springer Journals

Published: Apr 26, 2017

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