APPRAISAL FORM FOR DIAGNOSIS

I. APPRAISING DIRECTNESS
Does the study provide a direct enough answer
to your clinical question in terms of patients (P),
exposure (E) and outcome (O)? In this situation
the exposure is the test that is being evaluated,
and the outcome is the disease being diagnosed
II. APPRASING VALIDITY
1. Was the reference standard an acceptable one?

2. Was the “definition” of the index test and the

reference standard independent?

3 Was the “performance” of the index test and the

reference standard independent?
4 Was the “interpretation” of the index test and the
reference standard independent?
III. APPRAISING RESULTS
What were the likelihood ratios of the various test
results?
IV. ASSESSING APPLICABILITY
1. Are there biologic issues that may affect
applicability of the estimates of test accuracy?
(Consider the influence of sex, co-morbidity,
race, age and pathology)

2. Are there socio-economic issues that may affect

applicability of the estimates of test accuracy?
V. INDIVIDUALIZING THE RESULTS:
How might the test results affect the probability of
disease in your individual patient?

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