Reporting Standards for Diagnostic Testing: Guidance for Authors From Editors of Respiratory, Sleep, and Critical Care Journals

David E Ost; David J Feller-Kopman; Anne V Gonzalez; Horiana B Grosu; Felix Herth; Peter Mazzone; John E S Park; José M Porcel; Samira Shojaee; Ioana Tsiligianni; Anil Vachani; Jonathan Bernstein; Richard Branson; Patrick A Flume; Cezmi A Akdis; Martin Kolb; Esther Barreiro Portela; Alan Smyth

doi:10.1097/LBR.0000000000000920

Reporting Standards for Diagnostic Testing: Guidance for Authors From Editors of Respiratory, Sleep, and Critical Care Journals

J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2023 Jul 1;30(3):207-222. doi: 10.1097/LBR.0000000000000920.

Authors

David E Ost¹, David J Feller-Kopman², Anne V Gonzalez³, Horiana B Grosu¹, Felix Herth⁴, Peter Mazzone⁵, John E S Park⁶, José M Porcel⁷, Samira Shojaee⁸, Ioana Tsiligianni⁹, Anil Vachani¹⁰, Jonathan Bernstein¹¹, Richard Branson¹¹, Patrick A Flume¹², Cezmi A Akdis¹³, Martin Kolb¹⁴, Esther Barreiro Portela¹⁵, Alan Smyth¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
² Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
³ McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
⁴ Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
⁵ Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
⁶ Oxford University Hospitals NHS, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁷ University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
⁸ Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
⁹ University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
¹⁰ University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
¹¹ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
¹² Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
¹³ Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁴ McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
¹⁵ Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain.
¹⁶ University of Nottingham and NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

PMID: 37070780
DOI: 10.1097/LBR.0000000000000920

Abstract

Diagnostic testing is fundamental to medicine. However, studies of diagnostic testing in respiratory medicine vary significantly in terms of their methodology, definitions, and reporting of results. This has led to often conflicting or ambiguous results. To address this issue, a group of 20 respiratory journal editors worked to develop reporting standards for studies of diagnostic testing based on a rigorous methodology to guide authors, peer reviewers, and researchers when conducting studies of diagnostic testing in respiratory medicine. Four key areas are covered, including defining the reference standard of truth, measures of dichotomous test performance when used for dichotomous outcomes, measures of multichotomous test performance for dichotomous outcomes, and what constitutes a useful definition of diagnostic yield. The importance of using contingency tables for reporting results is addressed with examples from the literature. A practical checklist is provided as well for reporting studies of diagnostic testing.

MeSH terms

Checklist
Humans
Peer Review, Research*
Periodicals as Topic*
Reference Standards
Research Design