Background: Sensitivity and specificity are characteristics of a diagnostic test and are not
expected to change as the prevalence of the target condition changes. We sought to …

Background: Anecdotal evidence suggests that the sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic
test may vary with disease prevalence. Our objective was to investigate the associations …

BACKGROUND: Several studies and systematic reviews have reported results that indicate
that sensitivity and specificity may vary with prevalence. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We …

Background: Studies with methodologic shortcomings can overestimate the accuracy of a
medical test. We sought to determine and compare the direction and magnitude of the …

Objective To classify the sources of bias and variation and to provide an updated summary
of the evidence of the effects of each source of bias and variation. Study Design and Setting …

Objectives To investigate how the summary estimates in diagnostic test accuracy (DTA)
systematic reviews are affected when searches are limited to MEDLINE. Study Design and …

Calculating the sensitivity and specificity values from True Positive, True Negative, False
Positive, and False Negative is easy. But estimating the True and False values back is not …

In diagnostic accuracy studies, the contrast of interest can be one of the following: one single
test contrast; comparing two or more single tests; further testing in addition to previous …

Background The large and increasing number of new studies published each year is making
literature identification in systematic reviews ever more time-consuming and costly …

Rationale, aims and objectives Meta‐analyses of diagnostic test accuracy are important
elements in evidence‐based medicine. However, currently there is no overview of related …