Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16738037›Full record

ReviewThorax2006

Current evidence on diagnostic accuracy of commercially based nucleic acid amplification tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

S Greco, E Girardi, A Navarra, C Saltini

Open access · bronzeAbstract readEvaluation StudyReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Thorax, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
62citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

62 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 162 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Detection of a substantial rate of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in an HIV-infected population in South Africa by active monitoring of sputum samples.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2010
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2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

S GrecoDipartimento di Malattie Polmonari, Azienda Ospedaliera San Camillo-Forlanini, Rome, Italy. stgreco@scamilloforlanini.rm.it
E Girardi
A Navarra
C Saltini
Azienda Ospedaliera San Camillo-Forlanini · ITCenter for Prevention and Treatment of Infections · USIstituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani · ITUniversity of Rome Tor Vergata · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEven though commercial nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have become the most frequently used molecular tests for laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), published studies report variable estimates of their diagnostic accuracy. We analysed the accuracy of commercial NAATs for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in smear positive and smear negative respiratory samples using culture as a reference standard.

methodsEnglish language studies reporting data sufficient for calculating sensitivity and specificity of commercial NAATs on smear positive and/or smear negative respiratory samples were included. Meta-regression was used to analyse associations with reference test quality, the prevalence of TB, sample and test type. Predictive values for different levels of pre-test probability were quantified using Bayes' approach.

resultsSixty three journal articles published between 1995 and 2004 met the inclusion criteria. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.96 and 0.85 among smear positive samples and 0.66 and 0.98 among smear negative samples. The number of culture media used as reference test, the inclusion of bronchial samples, and the TB prevalence were found to influence the reported accuracy. The test type had no effect on the diagnostic odds ratio but seemed to be correlated with sensitivity or specificity, probably via a threshold effect.

conclusionsCommercial NAATs can be confidently used to exclude TB in patients with smear positive samples in which environmental mycobacteria infection is suspected and to confirm TB in a proportion of smear negative cases. The methodological characteristics of primary studies have a considerable effect on the reported diagnostic accuracy.

Indexed as

HumansNucleic Acid Amplification TechniquesPredictive Value of TestsSensitivity and SpecificityTuberculosis, Pulmonary

Identifiers

PMID16738037
PMCPMC2117107
OpenAlexW2122348642

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.