Another top ten study in EBM (February 14, 2005)

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Here's another nomination for the top ten studies in EBM.

One of the pitfalls of research evaluating diagnostic tests is spectrum bias, and this was noted as early as 1978 in

• Problems of spectrum and bias in evaluating the efficacy of diagnostic tests. Ransohoff DF, Feinstein AR. N Engl J Med 1978: 299(17); 926-30. [Medline] [Abstract]

This is a good article to cite, because one of the authors, AR Feinstein, was pivotal in the development of Clinical Epidemiology, which he defined as

the clinicostatistical study of diseased populations. The intellectual activities of this territory include the following: the occurrence rates and geographic distribution of disease; the patterns of natural and post-therapeutic events that constitute varying clinical courses in the diverse spectrum of disease; and the clinical appraisal of therapy. -- as quoted in www.nsite.ca/sackett/uploads/collections/72090908.pdf

I have a brief weblog entry about spectrum bias:

• Spectrum Bias (January 4, 2005)