Background
Target condition being diagnosed
Clinical pathway
Why perform this review?
Objectives
Methods/design
Inclusion criteria
Study characteristics | Inclusion criteria |
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Population | Children < 18 years of age with suspected meningococcal disease |
Index tests | Loop-mediated-isothermal AMPlification for Neisseria meningitidis |
Reference test | Quantitative PCR and/or culture of sterile site (blood and/or CSF) specimens |
Outcomes | True and false positives, true and false negatives |
Study designs | All prospective, retrospective and randomised control studies that report measures of diagnostic accuracy of Loop-mediated-isothermal AMPlification for Neisseria meningitidis |
Types of studies
Participants
Index tests
Target conditions
Reference standards
Exclusion criteria
Search methods for identification of studies
Electronic search strategy
Searching other resources
Data collection
Selection of studies
Data extraction and management
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Study characteristics: author, year of publication, country, design, sample size, clinical setting, number studied, number of drop-outs with reason, and funding source.
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Population characteristics: inclusion/exclusion criteria and patient demographics such as age and gender.
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LAMP testing: timing of sampling, method of sampling (e.g. throat swab, blood or CSF), time to result and commercial availability of the test.
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Gold standard: Quantitative PCR (e.g.TaqMan® PCR) or sterile site bacterial culture (i.e. blood/CSF)
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Outcomes: From this 2 × 2 table, we will calculate true positives, false positives, true negatives, and false negatives.
Assessment of methodological quality
Statistical analyses and evidence synthesis
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Infants (less than 1 year of age)
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Pre-school children (less than 4 years)
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School-age children (4–11 years)
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Adolescents (11–18 years)
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Sample type (throat swab, blood, CSF)
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High disease prevalence
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Low disease prevalence