The aim of this document is to provide authors, Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) and other Cochrane Entities with answers to some frequently asked questions about systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy and the Cochrane Collaboration.
Some questions have been labelled using prefixes 'CRG' or 'Author', to indicate if a question has particular focus. However these may be of interest to all readers.
If you have any more questions or suggestions for questions for this page send an email with 'FAQ authors', 'FAQ CRGs' or 'FAQ' in the subject line to either UKSU doesnotexist@cochrane.org contacts.bham.ac.uk or CESU doesnotexist@cochrane.org amc.uva.nl
To be able to give CRGs and authors all the support they may need, four regional Support Units are to be created. Two of these are already active: The UK Support Unit (UKSU) based in The Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Birmingham University, UK, and the Continental Europe Support Unit (CESU) based in The Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Support units for Australasia and for North America are not yet operable.
Support is available for UK Cochrane review groups and other entities through the UK support unit <UKSU doesnotexist@cochrane.org contacts.bham.ac.uk> (UKSU). Support is available for Cochrane review groups and entities in Continental Europe from the Continental Europe Support Unit <CESU doesnotexist@cochrane.org amc.uva.nl> (CESU).
For Cochrane review groups outside of the UK or continental Europe please contact one of these support units for an update on the status of the North American and Australasian support units.
UKSU and CESU have been set up to assist CRGs with implementing the processes and methods for conducting systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA). The CRGs will support their authors as they do for systematic reviews of interventions. Of course CRGs will be able to seek advice and assistance with this from their support group and to pass on specific queries from their authors to the support group. Therefore we would prefer questions from authors to be sent via their Review Group Coordinator (RGC).
The CRG can expect help with three aspects of preparing these reviews.
When a review group decides it would like to start registering reviews of diagnostic test accuracy it should contact its regional support group (UKSU <UKSU doesnotexist@cochrane.org contacts.bham.ac.uk> or CESU <CESU doesnotexist@cochrane.org amc.uva.nl>) who will arrange for some induction training to familiarise CRG staff, statisticians and editors with the processes of preparing a review of diagnostic test accuracy.
The formulation of useful and clinically relevant systematic review questions is very important for Cochrane systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. Before a CRG registers any review titles it would be advantageous to consider the scope of potential reviews for the CRG and to outline any reviews to prioritise.
We will be happy to discuss these with CRGs and to offer
It is important that editorial staff understand the processes their authors will use to prepare systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. We are able to provide training on the following topics:
The editorial process for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy is different to that for systematic reviews of interventions. The support groups will be the contact points for CRGs to contact the Diagnostic test accuracy editorial board who will provide methodological comments on all Cochrane systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. This will include
There is no pressure or rush to start to register reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. We prefer that each group start when it is ready and there is sufficient interest and resources within the review group to support these reviews. We are aware that CRGs manage large workloads and it would be important for CRGs to plan when would be appropriate to start registering systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy in order to ensure that they are in the best position to support authors. CRGs can write to any authors who contact them with a request to register a review of diagnostic test accuracy to explain their decision regarding systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. It may be helpful to the author to include a date when this decision may be revisited.
Because there is limited capacity within the support units the support units are prioritising review groups to receive support and training.
Review groups should contact their support unit if they have any questions.
CRGs should not register diagnostic test accuracy reviews until they have organised induction training with their support unit.
Each review group must decide when they would like to start to publishing systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. When a CRG decides that it would like to start to accept authors’ requests to register titles for SRDTA we recommend that members of the editorial team of the review group
There are plans for support units in North America and Australasia however these groups are not yet functioning. CRGs with concerns about their ability to start to register SRDTA should contact either the UK Support Unit (UKSU <UKSU doesnotexist@cochrane.org contacts.bham.ac.uk>) or the Continental Europe Support Unit (CESU <CESU doesnotexist@cochrane.org amc.uva.nl>).
Cochrane Review Groups are not expected to maintain a specialized register of diagnostic test accuracy studies for their group. A single register of diagnostic test accuracy studies designed to cover all specialties is being developed and managed by the Cochrane Renal Group based in Sydney, Australia. This is not yet publicly available. For more information, please visit this link.
At present we think that CRGs will not have to develop a separate topic list and it may be more useful for CRGs to scope out good clinical questions regarding diagnosis and comparison of appropriate diagnostic tests and prioritisation of appropriate tests.
At present we are not certain how many areas of common interest will be identified. Therefore we would like CRGs to consider other review groups when registering titles. Studies of diagnostic test accuracy usually focus on one condition to be identified, which will usually be within the scope of one review group. Registered titles will be circulated to all review groups in the same way the systematic reviews of interventions are circulated to all groups. We look forward to developing guidance on this as more reviews are registered.
As with Cochrane Intervention reviews you should contact the relevant Cochrane Review Group (CRG). However, please note, not all CRGs will start registering titles of Cochrane systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy (SRDTA). When a CRG is ready to start to accept authors' requests to register titles for SRDTA we recommend that the author team includes members with the following expertise:
There are 50 or so Cochrane review groups (CRGs) covering the whole of medical health care. Follow this link to the Cochrane Collaboration website to find the CRG that appears to be most relevant to your chosen review.
Each CRG will decide when it is ready to accept systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy from authors. Your CRG may be ready to accept these reviews or may have deferred acceptance until a later date. Please contact your CRG for details.
Please contact your CRG for advice on when to write your protocol. You can prepare your protocol after your proposed title for a systematic review has been accepted by the CRG. Please use the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy to guide you in the preparation of your protocol.
All systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy must be prepared using the new version of RevMan (RevMan5). RevMan5 is due for release from February 2008 but will not be available to all CRGs at release date as it is being provided to a few CRGs at a time. Please contact your CRG for details of when RevMan5 will be available to them. It is possible for you to prepare your protocol in Word and then transfer this to RevMan 5 later. However it is best to contact your CRG to ensure that you are following the guidance for protocol preparation correctly.
We advise you not to use search filters at all as evidence suggests that you may miss relevant studies. The reason for this is that terms for identifying studies examining the accuracy of diagnostic tests are not well indexed in the electronic bibliographic databases, such as MEDLINE. More details are available in Chapter 7 of the Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. For advice on searching please contact the trial search coordinator of your CRG.
We advise you to use the QUADAS checklist and to modify it if needed (for example, if you need to assess extra quality-items). Please see the Chapter 9 of the Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy.
We think that systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy are so different from intervention reviews that we are recommending that CRG staff have the opportunity to attend training and workshops to learn more about diagnostic research and systematic reviews of diagnostic research.
Another difference in the publication of these reviews is the requirement that all protocols and reviews are to be signed of for publication by the DTA editorial board and the Cochrane Review Group and if only one is signed off it is not possible to publish the review.
The DTA editorial board is in the process of being convened and will have experts in all methodological aspects of preparing systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. The role of the DTA editorial board will be to manage the quality of these reviews in The Cochrane Library through the peer review of these reviews and mentoring of Cochrane review group staff and authors. It will provide peer review comments of the methodology for all protocols and full text systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy.
All Cochrane diagnostic test accuracy reviews, and protocols for reviews, will need to be approved for sign off by the DTA editorial board before they can be published on the Cochrane Library. The sign off for publication will also require the Cochrane review group to approve the protocol or review for publication. This is a 'dual' sign off procedure.
Details of the editorial board members will be circulated as soon as they are finalised.
This group has been set up by the Steering Group to develop and implement the reviews of diagnostic test accuracy within the Cochrane Collaboration. There is more information available here.
The Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy Working Group (DTAWG) is closely related to the Screening and Diagnostic Test Methods Group (SDTMG), but the latter has a different function. Although many of the same people are involved in both, the SDTMG's focus is on research and quality control, while the DTAWG's focus is more on the practical implementation of diagnostic reviews within the Cochrane Library.