Patient outcomes and population context affect test accuracy

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7389.601/a

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David Jenkins, professor of pathology (david.jenkins@nottingham.ac.uk),
Elaine Bentley, academic epidemiologist

School of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH

EDITOR—Publication of the STARD paper, on standards for reporting of studies of diagnostic accuracy, should ensure increased attention to the problems of poor diagnostic research.1 Increased awareness of reporting of accuracy studies should lead to better study designs and hence improve the evidence base for diagnostic tests.

However, accuracy is but one aspect of assessing diagnostic tests. …