Table 3 Incorporation of quality assessment in main text of diagnostic reviews
Approach | Overall quality of included studies | Number N = 65 | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Quality mentioned in the main text | 60 (92% ) b | ||
Results of quality assessment reported, no mention in discussion or conclusion | 13 (20%) | Results presented as table of individual QUADAS items. No further discussion or interpretation of results [28]. | |
Results of quality assessment reported and discussed, but quality not linked to conclusion | 41 (63%) | Assessed quality using criteria of internal and external validity. Overall quality clearly not stated. | |
Discussion as limitation only: “Fourth, the variability in the quality of the primary studies may introduce important limitations for the interpretation of this review study”. | |||
Conclusion: “Based on the results of this systematic review, F-18 FDG PET (PET/CT) was useful in ruling in extrahepatic metastases of HCC and valuable for ruling out the recurrent HCC” [29]. | |||
Results of quality assessment reported and discussed, and conclusions regarding test accuracy linked to results of quality assessment | 6 (9%) | α“ In conclusion, the observed high sensitivity and low specificity of the colposcopy-directed punch biopsy for high grade CIN might be a result of verification bias. The sensitivity looks high but is probably a spurious finding caused by the fact that most studies restricted excision mainly to women with a positive punch biopsy” [20]. | |
β“ There exists a wide range of physical diagnostic tests for FAI and/or labral pathology and little information on the diagnostic accuracy and validity. The methodological quality of the diagnostic accuracy studies is moderate to poor ” [23]. | |||
Results of quality assessment reported and discussed, and recommendations based on general unspecified quality items | 12 (18%) | Assessed quality with Original QUADAS. Only included high quality studies based on a summary score (>9/14) “In conclusion, T2WI combined with DWI is superior to T2WI alone in the detection of prostate cancer. High-quality prospective studies regarding the combination of T2WI plus DWI in detecting prostate carcinoma still need to be conducted” [30]. |