The reliability of diagnostic techniques in the diagnosis and management of malaria in the absence of a gold standard.

Journal article

The accuracy of techniques for the diagnosis of malaria are usually compared with optical microscopy, which is considered to be a gold standard. However, microscopy is prone to error and therefore makes it difficult to assess the reliability of other diagnostic techniques. We did a systematic review to assess the specificity and sensitivity of diagnostic techniques in different settings, using a statistical method that avoided defining a gold standard. Performance varied depending on species ...

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Authors: Ochola, L; Vounatsou, P; Smith, T; Mabaso, M; Newton, C

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Lancet. Infectious diseases
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 582-588
• Publication date: 2006-09-01
• DOI: 10.1016/s1473-3099(06)70579-5
• EISSN: 1474-4457
• ISSN: 1473-3099
• Language: English
• Keywords: Humans; Plasmodium; Malaria; Sensitivity and Specificity; Microscopy; Reproducibility of Results; Patient Selection; Animals