Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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In this two-part series on sources of bias in studies of diagnostic test performance, we outline common errors and optimal conditions during three study phases: patient selection, interpretation of the index test and disease verification by a gold standard. Here in part 1, biases associated with suboptimal participant selection are discussed through the lens of partial verification bias and spectrum bias, both of which increase the proportion of participants who are the 'sickest of the sick' or the 'wellest of the well.' Especially through retrospective methodology, partial verification introduces bias by including patients who are test positive by a gold standard, since patients with a positive index test are more likely to go on to further gold standard testing. ⋯ After reading part 1, the informed clinician should be better able to judge the quality of a diagnostic test study, its inherent limitations and whether its results could be generalisable to their practice. Part 2 will describe how interpretation of the index test and disease verification by a gold standard can contribute to diagnostic test bias.
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Editorial
Anatomy of resuscitative care unit: expanding the borders of traditional intensive care units.
Resuscitation lacks a place in the hospital to call its own. Specialised intensive care units, though excellent at providing longitudinal critical care, often lack the flexibility to adapt to fluctuating critical care needs. We offer the resuscitative care unit as a potential solution to ensure that patients receive appropriate care during the most critical hours of their illnesses. These units offer an infrastructure for resuscitation and can meet the changing needs of their institutions.