scholarly journals Interpreting negative test results when assessing cancer risk in general practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (708) ◽  
pp. 298-299
Author(s):  
Stephen H Bradley ◽  
Brian D Nicholson ◽  
Garth Funston
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahel Caliesch ◽  
Martin Sattelmayer ◽  
Stephan Reichenbach ◽  
Marcel Zwahlen ◽  
Roger Hilfiker

ObjectivesTo determine the diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for cam or pincer morphology in individuals with suspected femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome and to evaluate their clinical utility.DesignA systematic review of studies investigating the diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for cam and pincer morphology.Data sourcesPubMed, Embase, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesStudies investigating the diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for cam, pincer or mixed morphology in symptomatic patients. Patients had to undergo an index test and a reference test able to identify cam or pincer morphology. Study results have to allow the calculation of true or false positives and/or negatives to calculate sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios (LR) and post-test probabilities.ResultsEight studies were included, investigating 17 tests and two test combinations. The studies reported a low specificity for all tests, ranging from 0.11 to 0.56. Sensitivity ranged from 0.11 to 1.00, with high sensitivities for the flexion-adduction-internal rotation (FADIR), foot progression angle walking (FPAW) and maximal squat tests. We estimated that negative test results on all of these three tests would result in a negative LR of 0.15. However, we judged the studies to provide low-quality evidence.ConclusionThere is low-quality evidence that negative test results reduce the post-test probability of cam or mixed morphologies and that consecutive testing with the FADIR, FPAW and maximal squat tests might be used as a clinical test combination. We would not recommend their use to confirm the diagnosis of FAI syndrome.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018079116.


Author(s):  
Dara W. Childs ◽  
Yoon-Shik Shin ◽  
Brent Seifert

Predictions are presented for hole pattern seals for which the hole depth is varied axially, showing that various depth patterns can significantly improve damping performance in terms of both increasing the seal’s effective damping and reducing its cross-over frequency — the frequency at which effective damping changes from positive to negative. Test results are presented for the seal with the best variable hole depth (VHD) pattern showing an increase in peak damping by a factor of 1.6 over a constant hole depth (CHD) design, versus predictions of 2.7. The cross over frequency is reduced by approximately 40%. The VHD seal has a significant negative static stiffness that probably arises from a friction-factor jump phenomena, not flow path divergence. The VHD seal leaks less than a comparable CHD design.


1989 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. LILLARD

This study was undertaken to determine whether bacteria are already attached to poultry skin when birds arrive at the processing plant. Multiple rinses were performed on breast skin and whole carcasses taken from five processing points in a commercial plant: Before scalding, after scalding, after picking, after the final washer, and from the exit end of the chiller. Aerobic bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae were recovered from carcasses in up to 40 consecutive whole carcass rinses with a difference of only about one log for Enterobacteriaceae, and 1 to 2 logs for aerobes from the first to the last rinse of carcasses taken from the beginning and the end of the processing line. Data from rinses prior to scalding indicated that bacteria were firmly attached to poultry carcasses when they first arrived in the plant. Not all bacteria were removed during processing; however, there were fewer aerobes and Enterobacteriaceae at progressive sampling points. Attached salmonellae were not always recovered in the first whole carcass rinse, but were sometimes recovered in 3rd, 5th, and 10th rinses. These data show that a single whole carcass rinse can result in false negative test results for salmonellae. Because of the small number of positive samples in this study, the probability of recovering salmonellae with a single whole carcass rinse could not be estimated accurately.


Sexual Health ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma R. Weaver ◽  
Anna L. Bowring ◽  
Rebecca Guy ◽  
Caroline van Gemert ◽  
Jane S. Hocking ◽  
...  

Background Clinical guidelines commonly recommend annual chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis) testing in young people. General practice (GP) clinics can play an important role in annual testing, as a high proportion of young people attend these clinics annually; however, little is known about the timing of attendance and testing in this setting. Methods: The Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Blood-Borne Viruses system extracted consultation and pathology data on 16–29-year-olds attending 25 GP clinics in 2007–10. We calculated the proportion of individuals with an initial negative test that reattended at 12 months (±3 months) and retested at 12 months (±3 months). Individuals with an initial positive test were excluded, as guidelines recommend retesting at 3 months. Results: Among 3852 individuals who had an initial negative test, 2201 (57.1%) reattended at ~12 months; reattendance was higher among females (60.8%) than males (44.1%; P < 0.001) and higher among 16–19-year-olds (64.2%) than 25–29-year-olds (50.8%; P < 0.001). Of 2201 individuals who reattended at 12 months, 377 had a chlamydia test (retesting rate of 9.8%); retesting was higher among females (10.8%) than males (6.1%; P < 0.01) and higher among 16–19-year-olds (13.3%) than 25–29-year-olds (7.5%; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Although over half of young people reattended their GP clinic ~1 year after a negative chlamydia baseline test, only 9.8% were retested at this visit. Strategies are needed to promote regular attendance and testing to both patients and clinicians.


2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 377-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berit Andersen ◽  
Lars ??stergaard ◽  
Erzsebet Puho ◽  
Mette Vinther Skriver ◽  
Henrik C. Sch??nheyder

Sexual Health ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Bell ◽  
Jordi Casabona ◽  
Nino Tsereteli ◽  
Dorthe Raben ◽  
John de Wit

Background The aim of this study was to assess perceptions of health professionals involved in HIV testing policy and practice in national settings across the WHO European Region regarding the delivery of HIV test results, post-test discussion and referral to specialist HIV services as recommended in authoritative guidelines. Methods: An online self-report survey was completed by a convenience sample of 338 respondents (response rate 34.1%) from 55 countries. Respondents worked with non-government organisations (49.4%), health services (32.8%), non-health service government agencies (6.2%) or other organisations (11.5%; e.g. prisons, education and research, international development). Results: Experts’ perceptions indicate that delivery of HIV-positive test results and related post-test discussion in their country generally corresponded to recommendations. However, results pointed to a significant gap perceived by experts between recommendations and the practice of delivering HIV-negative test results. Fewer respondents thought that suitable time is taken to deliver a negative HIV-test result (54.1%) than a positive result (73.1%). Also, fewer respondents thought there was a procedure for referral to specialist treatment, care and support services for people receiving a HIV-negative test result (34.9%) than for people receiving an HIV-positive test result (86.2%). Experts also reported low perceived use of communication technologies (i.e. telephone, email, text messaging, a secure website) for delivering HIV test results. Conclusions: This expert survey offers new insight into perceived HIV post-test practices in almost all national settings across the WHO European Region. The findings provide valuable guidance for future HIV testing guidelines for the WHO European Region.


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