Diagnostic Meta-Analysis. A Useful Tool for Clinical Decision-Making (Hardcover)

SECTION I 1. Introduction to Clinical DiagnosisGiuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Mariangela Peruzzi, Simona Mastrangeli, Giacomo Frati2. The Evidence hierarchyMical Paul3. Peculiarities of Diagnostic Test Accuracy StudiesGiuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Simona Mastrangeli, Mariangela Peruzzi, Giacomo Frati 4. Meta-analyses of Clinical Trials vs Diagnostic Test Accuracy StudiesMichail Tsagris, Konstantinos C. Fragkos

SECTION II 5. Designing the ReviewJose Mauro Madi, Machline Paim Paganella, Isnard Elman Litvin, Eliana Marcia Wendland 6. Registering the reviewAlison Booth, Julie Jones-Diette7. Searching for Diagnostic Test Accuracy StudiesSu Golder, Julie Glanville 8. Abstracting EvidenceLuca Testa, Mario Bollati 9. Appraising EvidenceValentina Pecoraro10. Synthesizing EvidencePaul-Christian Burkner11. Appraising HeterogeneityAntonia Zapf12. Statistical Packages and Diagnostic Meta-analysis and Their ApplicationPhilipp Doebler, Paul Burkner and Gerta Rucker13. Network Meta-analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies Gerta Rucker14. Transition to Intervention Meta-analysis Umberto Benedetto, Colin Ng15. Updating Diagnostic Test Accuracy Systematic Reviews: Which, When and How Should They be Updated? Ersilia Lucenteforte, Alessandra Bettiol, Salvatore De Masi, Gianni Virgili

SECTION III 16.Diagnostic Meta-Analysis: Case Study in EndocrinologyKosma Wolinski17. Diagnostic Meta-Analysis: Case Study in GastroenterologyBashar J. Qumseya, Michael Wallace18.Diagnostic Meta-Analysis: Case Study in OncologySulbaran Marianny, Sousa Afonso, Bustamante-Lopez Leonardo 19. Diagnostic Meta-analysis: Case Study in SurgeryEliana Al Haddad, Hutan Ashrafian, Thanos Athanasiou

SECTION IV 20. Avenues for Further ResearchYulun Liu, Yong Chen 21. ConclusionGiuseppe Biondi-Zoccai

This book is the first exclusively devoted to the systematic synthesis of diagnostic test accuracy studies. It builds upon the major recent developments in reporting standards, search methods, and, in particular, statistical tools specifically devoted to diagnostic studies. In addition, it borrows extensively from the latest advances in systematic reviews and meta-analyses of intervention studies. After a section dedicated to methods for designing reviews, synthesizing evidence and appraising inconsistency in research, the application of these approaches is demonstrated in the context of case studies from various clinical disciplines.

Diagnosis is central in medical decision-making, and in many other fields of human endeavor, such as education and psychology. The plurality of sources of evidence on diagnostic test accuracy poses a huge challenge for practitioners and researchers, as do the multiple dimensions of evidence validity, which include sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios.

This book offers an invaluable resource for anyone aiming to improve decision-making processes in diagnosis, classification or risk prognostication, from epidemiologists to biostatisticians, radiologists, laboratory physicians and graduate students, as any physician interested in refining his methodological skills in clinical diagnosis.

Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai is Associate Professor in Cardiology in the Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies of Sapienza University of Rome. He has got an established expertise in evidence-based cardiovascular medicine and is the founder of the Meta-analysis and Evidence-based medicine Training in Cardiology (METCARDIO) Collaboration. He has published more than 600 articles indexed in MEDLINE, including more than 200 systematic reviews, meta-analyses, or umbrella reviews, and he is the editor of the first books devoted to network meta-analyses and umbrella reviews.