Objectives: At the conclusion of this workshop participants will:

Understand how evidence from diagnostic systematic reviews can be used in clinical practice

Understand what information should be included in the discussion and conclusion sections of a diagnostic review so that the review can be informative for clinical decision making.
Description: Using the evidence from diagnostic systematic reviews in clinical decision making requires an understanding of how this evidence fits with a patient's pre-test probability of disease and the potential benefits and harms of treatment. Topics to be discussed in this workshop will be:

An explanation of diagnostic decision making, including test-no treatment and test-treatment thresholds

The use of measures of diagnostic accuracy, such as likelihood ratios

The influence of the pre test probability on the value of testing

How other factors may influence the value of testing
The workshop will include :

-a brief introduction about interpretation of diagnostic tests and strategies for their use in quantitative decision making

-interactive exercises to illustrate the concepts of diagnostic decision making

Target audience: Authors interested in conducting diagnostic systematic reviews, and users of reviews interested in learning about the use of evidence in diagnostic decision making

Style: Training workshop