Dot diagrams as source documents for evaluations of test performance

Complete evaluations of test performance require data on many test results over many clinical states, not restricted to the traditional 2 X 2 table of two possible test results and two possible clinical states. Published reports on test performance often include dot diagrams, depicting many test results over many clinical states. From such dot diagrams, several methods may be used to obtain numerical data for quantitative evaluations of test performance. Dot diagrams, long used to depict multiple test results over multiple clinical states, can serve as source documents for quantitative evaluations of test performance.