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Diagnostic testing: an emergency medicine perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Andrew Worster ,
Grant Innes  and
Riyad B. Abu-Laban
Andrew Worster*
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medicine, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.
Grant Innes
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Providence Health Care and St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC
Riyad B. Abu-Laban
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC
*
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hamilton Health Sciences, 237 Barton St. E, Hamilton ON L8N 3Z5; fax 905 527-7051, [email protected]

Abstract:

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Emergency physicians use diagnostic tests extensively, and the ability to order and interpret test results appropriately is a critical skill. An understanding of sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios, as well as an awareness of the importance of pre-test probability, is essential. The purpose of this article is to explain, in a straightforward and clinically applicable manner, the core concepts related to diagnostic testing.

Keywords

diagnosissensitivityspecificitypredictive valuelikelihood ratioprevalenceemergency medicine
Type
Methodology: The Science of EM • Méthodologie: Science De La MU
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 4 , Issue 5 , September 2002 , pp. 348 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2002

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