Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Studies

Systematic reviews of diagnostic studies are essential tools for synthesizing evidence on the performance of diagnostic tests, providing clinicians and policymakers with valuable insights into test accuracy and reliability. Focusing on the accuracy of the diagnostic tests, these systematic reviews are commonly called the systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA). This chapter provides a detailed overview of these reviews, highlighting their specific methodological characteristics, types, and requirements and providing a thorough practical guide to conducting these studies. The key considerations for conducting a systematic review of diagnostic studies, including the formulation of the study question, protocol development, search strategy development, systematic search, study selection, data extraction, bias in DTA studies, critical appraisal, tools for risk of bias assessment, synthesis and meta-analysis, clinical utility, and implications for patient-oriented research are covered in this chapter.