Negative predictive value

Influenza contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in the winter season. The aim of the study was to identify clinical signs and symptoms most predictive of influenza infection in children and adults with influenza-like illness. A prospective systematic sampling analysis of clinical data collected through sentinel surveillance system for influenza in 32 primary care centers and one tertiary care hospital in Slovenia during two consecutive influenza seasons (2004/2005 and 2005/2006) was carried out. Children and adults who had influenza-like illness, defined as febrille illness with sudden onset, prostration and weakness, muscle and joint pain and at least (cough, sore throat, coryza) were included and tested for influenza A and B virus, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus and enterovirus by RT-PCR. Clinical data were evaluated in statistical models to identify the best predictors for the confirmation of influenza for children (under age of 15) and adults. Of 1,286 pa...

The Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA) was developed to provide an easily administered and interpreted means of assessing levels of physical activity among adults older than 50 years. A systematic review of the literature, a survey of geriatricians, focus groups, and cognitive debriefings with older adults were conducted, and an expert panel was convened. From these procedures, a nine-item questionnaire assessing strength, flexibility, and level and intensity of physical activity was developed. Among a cohort of 115 older adults (mean age, 73.3 years; age range, 51-92 years), half of whom were regular exercisers (55%), the screening performance of three short self-report physical activity questionnaires--the RAPA, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) physical activity questions, and the Patient-centered Assessment and Counseling for Exercise (PACE)--was compared with the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) as the criterion. Com...

SUMMARY Absolute risk is the probability that an individual who is free of a given disease at an initial age, a, will develop that disease in the subsequent interval (a,t]. Absolute risk is reduced by mortality from com-peting risks. Models of absolute risk that depend on covariates ...

To apply ROC analysis to select the best threshold scores for the PHQ and SRQ; to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ and SRQ against a criterion diagnosis of depressive disorder in a community sample in rural Pakistan, and to examine the influence of socio-demographic factors on misclassification. The study used a two-stage design. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to estimate the optimal threshold score and to compare the ability of the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) and the Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ) to discriminate between cases of depressive disorder and non-cases. The results of the ROC analysis suggest that the SRQ is superior to the PHQ, and at the threshold of 5/6, the SRQ has superior sensitivity, negative predictive value and percentage agreement compared with the PHQ. When the SRQ threshold is raised it gains specificity, and at a cut-off threshold of 7/8 it is superior to the PHQ (5/6) in all validity coefficients and ...

Introduction: Appendicitis is considered as one of the major causes leading to acute abdomen and as one of the most prevalent cases in urgent need of surgery. Although diagnosis of acute appendicitis is based on the accounts, clinical examinations and laboratory results, but making any certain diagnosis often seems to be quite difficult, even for experienced surgeons. This problem is more appreciable/ discernible concerning some groups like pregnant women, children/infants, and aged people. So, there has been always a constant effort to achieve inexpensive and feasible/available methods for improving the process of diagnosis.

Materials & methods: All the patients who were suspected of having acute appendix, operated in the emergency of Be'sat Hospital in Hamadan during six months ago, have been checked. 5 cc peripheral blood has been obtained from each of those hospitalized patients whom were suspected of having acute appendicitis and supposed to have surgery afterwards. Serum D-Lactae level measured using Spectrophotometric method. Serum level of above 0.25 mg in deciliter has been considered for patients whom their test-result was positive.

Findings: In acute appendicitis diagnosis, the sensitivity of D-Lactae measurement was (79%) and specificity (58%) for all patients, positive predictive value (87%) and negative predictive value (43%) as the result of the test have been calculated. The accuracy of the test was 74%.

Discussion & Conclusions: Serum lactate test could be an influential aid in diagnosis of acute appendicitis. This test is quite inexpensive and widely available. Besides, the method of measurement is simple. Test sensitivity, in all age groups, is high; positive predictive value of the test, in comparison with other laboratory tests, is high. Accuracy of the test is also high and is comparable to other laboratory tests.

RESUMEN Se evaluó dos pruebas modificadas de ELISA e inmunofluorescencia indirecta (IFI) para la detección de IgM basadas en el lisado total de Rickettsia akari para el diagnóstico de Rickettsiosis. Se usaron 55 sueros negativos, 100 sueros positivos ...

The objective of the study was to compare the effectiveness of bedside test kits for pIGFBP-1 and fetal fibronectin test in predicting preterm delivery. Patients presenting with symptoms of preterm labour between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation were recruited. Both pIGFBP-1 and fetal fibronectin bedside tests were performed. Managing obstetricians and patients were blinded to the pIGFBP-1 and fetal fibronectin results. Tocolysis and steroid therapy were administered to all the recruited patients. Outcome data were collected after delivery. One hundred and eight patients were recruited into the study. Fourteen patients had to be excluded from the final analysis due to incomplete data and failure to meet inclusion criteria. Ninety-four patients had complete data for analysis. Among those with negative pIGFBP-1 and fetal fibronectin results, the median [+/-standard deviation (SD)] gestational age at delivery was 37.4 weeks (+/-2.8 weeks) and 37.4 weeks (+/-2.1 weeks), respectively. Among ...

Objective. To evaluate, under laboratory conditions, the sensitivity and specificity of a rapid diagnostic test (Opti- MAL), based on immunoreactive strips, to detect Plasmo- dium vivax infection in febrile patients in Southern Chiapas, Mexico. Material and Methods. The presence of parasi- tes in blood samples of 893 patients was investigated by Giemsa-stained thick blood smear microscopic examination (gold standard). A

Purpose  In order to analyze the changes of glucose metabolism by maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with rectal cancer submitted to neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (nRCT) and to correlate SUV changes with tumor regression grade (TRG). Methods and material  Three sequential 18F-FDG PET/CT studies were performed in 31 patients with rectal cancer at the following time point: before starting

Objective: To assess the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and the positive and negative predictive values of amniotic fluid fluorescence polarization for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome in high risk pregnancies. Methods: A prospective descriptive study of 54 patients with high risk pregnancies. Fetal lung maturity was assessed using amniotic fluid florescence polarization obtained by amniocentesis up to 72 hours before delivery. Respiratory