Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34455573›Full record

SynthesisBrazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology]2021

Evaluation of the Cepheid Xpert C. difficile diagnostic assay: an update meta-analysis.

Yuanyuan Bai, Yingying Hao, Zhen Song, Wenjun Chu, Yan Jin, Yueling Wang

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology], 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 34% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Analysis of high-molecular-weight proteins using MALDI-TOF MS and machine learning for the differentiation of clinically relevant Clostridioides difficile ribotypes.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2025
    Article
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

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yuanyuan BaiDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Yingying HaoDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Zhen SongDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Wenjun ChuDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
Yan JinDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, People's Republic of China. slyywsw@163.com.
Yueling WangDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, People's Republic of China. wyl6877@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-0835
Shandong Provincial Hospital · CN

Funding

Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province ZR2016HB44
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccurate and rapid diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is critical for effective patient management and implementation of infection control measures to prevent transmission.

objectivesWe updated our previous meta-analysis to provide a more reliable evidence base for the clinical diagnosis of Xpert C. difficile (Xpert C. difficile) assay.

methodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) databases to identify studies according to predetermined criteria. STATA 13.0 software was used to analyze the tests for sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio, and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). QUADAS-2 was used to assess the quality of included studies with RevMan 5.2. Heterogeneity in accuracy measures was tested with Spearman correlation coefficient and chi-square. Meta-regressions and subgroup analyses were performed to figure out the potential sources of heterogeneity. Model diagnostics were used to evaluate the veracity of the data.

resultsA total of 26 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity (95% confidence intervals [CI]) for diagnosis was 0.97(0.95-0.98), and specificity was 0.96(0.95-0.97). The AUC was 0.99 (0.98-1.00). Model diagnostics confirmed the robustness of our meta-analysis's results. Significant heterogeneity was still observed when we pooled most of the accuracy measures of selected studies. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses showed that the sample size and type, ethnicity, and disease prevalence might be the conspicuous sources of heterogeneity.

conclusionsThe up-to-date meta-analysis showed the Xpert CD assay had good accuracy for detecting CDI. However, the diagnosis of CDI must combine clinical presentation with diagnostic testing to better answer the question of whether the patient actually has CDI in the future, and inclusion of preanalytical parameters and clinical outcomes in study design would provide a more objective evidence base.

Indexed as

Clostridioides difficileClostridium InfectionsDiagnostic Tests, RoutineHumansROC CurveSensitivity and SpecificityClostridium infectionsMeta-analysisNucleic acid amplification techniques

Identifiers

PMID34455573
PMCPMC8578272
OpenAlexW3197055344

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.