Diagnostic Accuracy
Everything on Aqrab tagged Diagnostic Accuracy — grouped into one landing page so readers can go deeper by problem family instead of bouncing around the archive blind.
Only the Disagreements Were Checked: The Discrepant-Resolution Trap
When a third test checks only disagreements, agreement is not proof that both tests were right. Use this three-question audit before accepting a revised diagnostic-accuracy table.
The Result Arrived After the Decision: Audit Diagnostic Turnaround
A practical timeline shows why diagnostic accuracy alone cannot establish that a result can reach the clinical decision it is meant to support.
One Pooled Sensitivity, Two Hospitals: Check Diagnostic Accuracy by Site
A worked two-site example shows how a pooled sensitivity can hide a weaker result in one setting, and what to inspect before transporting a diagnostic claim.
Before the Analyzer: Does Specimen Handling Match Diagnostic Test Use?
A practical specimen-path audit for diagnostic studies: collection, transport, storage, and exclusions can separate the reported accuracy from the intended clinical workflow.
The Expert-Reader Trap: Will Diagnostic Accuracy Travel to Routine Care?
A practical guide to checking whether the readers, training, and workflow in a diagnostic study match the setting where a test will be used.
Who Knew the Answer? Reader Masking in Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
A practical two-direction audit of what index-test and reference-standard readers knew before interpretation, and why clinical context is not the same as knowing the answer key.
One Patient, Many Samples: What Is the Denominator in a Diagnostic Study?
A practical audit of patient, specimen, and testing-episode denominators: repeated samples do not automatically provide independent patient-level evidence.
Two Tests, Two Patient Groups: Why the Accuracy Leaderboard Can Mislead
A practical guide to direct versus indirect diagnostic-test comparisons: check whether both tests faced the same patients and reference standard before calling one more accurate.
When the Answer Key Arrives Later: Timing in Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
The interval between an index test and reference standard can change the condition being measured. A practical timeline shows what to check before interpreting apparent false results.
Ninety Percent Sensitive Based on How Many Cases?
The same 90% sensitivity can rest on 20 or 200 condition-positive participants. A worked confidence-interval comparison shows why the denominator matters before a test is called reliable.
Test Agreement Is Not Diagnostic Accuracy
A worked 97% agreement example shows why matching another imperfect test cannot establish sensitivity or specificity, plus four questions for appraising the comparator and denominators.
Two Positive Tests Are Not Always Twice the Evidence
A worked example shows why repeating a correlated diagnostic test cannot automatically multiply the same likelihood ratio twice—and what joint pathway data reviewers should request.
Inconclusive Diagnostic Results: Keep the Middle Row
A three-result worked example shows why valid intermediate findings deserve their own likelihood ratio, while failed tests need separate reporting—not silent exclusion.
A Negative Test Is Not a Rule-Out: Calculate the Risk Left Behind
A worked negative likelihood-ratio example shows why the same negative test can leave very different residual risks—and what to check before calling a result reassuring.
Positive Predictive Value: Why a Good Test Can Still Produce Mostly False Alarms
A worked diagnostic-test example shows why positive predictive value changes with the tested population, even when sensitivity and specificity are held fixed—and why real-world accuracy may shift too.
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