Design, statistical analysis and reporting standards for test accuracy studies for infectious diseases in animals:
Ian A Gardner1, Axel Colling2, Matthias Greiner3
1Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, C1A 4P3, Canada.
Abstract:
The quality of diagnostic accuracy studies (DAS) for infectious diseases of animals has improved over the last 20 years because of international educational efforts, use of design and reporting standards to guide researchers and test developers, and acceptance of the use of latent class models to account for imperfect reference tests. In this review, we focus on measurement of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as a measure of clinical validity, describe the leadership role of the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) in setting standards for test validation in the context of fitness-for-purpose, and describe how design and reporting quality have facilitated the increased use of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of DAS. Ongoing challenges for design, conduct, analysis and reporting of DAS are identified; and we make recommendations for improvements in these areas for OIE-listed and non-listed infectious diseases.
Related Concept Videos
Study Design in Statistics
Does aspirin reduce the risk of heart attacks? Is one brand of fertilizer more effective at growing roses than another? Is fatigue as dangerous to a driver as the influence of alcohol? Questions like these are answered using randomized experiments with proper...
Statistical Analysis: Overview
One of the most commonly used statistical quantifiers is the mean, which is the ratio between the sum of the numerical values of all results and the...
Statistical Analysis System (SAS)
Applications: SAS finds applications in numerous fields, including healthcare for clinical trial analysis, finance for risk assessment, marketing for customer data analysis, and...
Uncertainty in Measurement: Accuracy and Precision
Statistical Significance
Factorial Design


