Performance evaluation tests of new laboratory procedures or devices: practical reporting criteria

The publication of papers reporting evaluations of new laboratory procedures and devices has increased rapidly in recent years. As more commercial systems emerge in the market place, and laboratory-based systems disappear, the potential user of the new system turns to his peers for opinions about the function of such systems. Unfortunately, many published reports lack statistical guidance and the reader is too often faced with a recitative about percentage differences and probabilities of significance, frequently reported on unacceptably small sample numbers. This communication offers guidance to those seeking to produce evaluation reports that will be of practical value to others.