AIMS To assess diagnostic value of Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), combined CA 19-9 and K-ras mutation in plasma DNA in diagnosing patients with pancreatic carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Sinomed, CNKI and other databases, from established to November, 2013, were searched for initial studies. All the studies published in English or Chinese relating...

OBJECTIVE To determine the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging criteria for the early diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in patients with suspected disease. DESIGN Systematic review. DATA SOURCES 12 electronic databases, citation searches, and reference lists of included studies. Review methods Studies on accuracy of diagnosis that compared magnetic resonance imaging, or diagnostic criteria...

Background: There is a number of physical examination maneuvers used to diagnose hip pathology but the diagnostic validity of these maneuvers is unclear. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate current knowledge regarding the diagnostic validity of the physical examination maneuvers for hip pathology. Methods: We conducted a literature search of the electronic databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, EM...

BACKGROUND The worksite is a promising setting for health promotion. This review summarizes the evidence of effect of intervention studies in European countries promoting a healthy diet solely and in combination with increasing physical activity at the workplace. METHODS A systematic review of published literature was carried out. Inclusion criteria were: studies conducted in European countri...

PURPOSE To perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) technique in differentiating malignant from benign lung lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Medical and scientific literature databases were searched for studies that assessed the diagnostic performance of DWI in patients suspected of lung cancer who underwent DWI and biopsy. Only stud...

BACKGROUND Low disease prevalence and lack of uniform reference standards in primary care induce methodological challenges for investigating the diagnostic accuracy of a test. We present a study design that copes with these methodological challenges and discuss the methodological implications of our choices, using a quality assessment tool for diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2). DESIGN Th...

OBJECTIVES To compare the methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews by authors from China and those from the United States (USA). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING From systematic reviews of randomized trials published in 2014 in English, we randomly selected 100 from China and 100 from the USA. The methodological quality was assessed using the Assessing the Methodological Quality of ...

Studies reporting sociometric assessments based on nominations have been characterized by important methodological inconsistencies when conducted in the middle school context. The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the possibility of a response bias when participants are provided with a long roster sorted alphabetically, (2) the impact of including or not other-sex peers in the voting pop...

PURPOSE Infrared thermometers are increasingly used as a convenient, non-invasive assessment method for febrile children. However, the diagnostic accuracy of the infrared thermometer for children has been questioned, particularly in relation to sensitivity and specificity. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of infrared thermometers in febrile children. METHODS Articles ...