Diagnostic Tests Toolkit

Finding the evidence for diagnostic tests

Establishing an evidence-based methodology to assess the effectiveness of diagnostic tests has posed problems for many years. Now that the framework is in place health professionals can find and appraise the evidence for themselves.

With Diagnostic Tests Toolkit clinicians and junior researchers can interpret the evidence for the effectiveness of different types of diagnostic tests, or develop their own research using the successful 'step-by-step' format of the Toolkit series. Written by renowned clinical researchers, this is the first basic guide to evidence-based diagnosis. It is equally valuable to starters in clinical research and those needing a quick refresher on the core elements of evidence-based diagnosis.

This new volume in the Toolkit series is aimed at clinicians and junior researchers who need to interpret the evidence for the effectiveness of the many diagnostic tests now available. It will enable clinicians and GPs to assess the value of asking for a particular test, and it will introduce junior researchers to the methodology, so that they can design their own research into evidence-based diagnosis. The distinguishing feature of this pocket-sized textbook will be its user-friendliness. The guiding principle for this book is that readers are not experts in diagnostic test interpretation. They are faced with a variety of issues from how to design diagnostic test studies, to understanding the results of diagnostic tests, and interpreting the findings for clinical practice and health care policy. These are practical problems that readers need to be able to understand in order to answer clinical problems as well as research questions.