The current use and interpretation of rheumatologic tests

The growing emphasis on primary care medicine has led to an increase in the number of physicians ordering and interpreting tests previously used by specialists. In order to prevent unnecessary and inaccurate testing, it is important to determine the necessity and accuracy of a test before it is performed. This chapter reviews several types of autoantibody (ANA) tests sensitive to rheumatologic diseases and explains how such tests may aid diagnosis.