"Medical diagnosis is the process of determining which disease or condition explains a person's symptoms and signs."
Evaluation of tests used to diagnose diseases in a population.
Sensitivity and Specificity: Sensitivity refers to the ability of a diagnostic test to correctly identify individuals who have the disease, while specificity refers to the ability of the test to correctly identify individuals who do not have the disease.
Positive Predictive Value and Negative Predictive Value: Positive predictive value is the probability that a person who tests positive actually has the disease, while negative predictive value is the probability that a person who tests negative does not have the disease.
Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve: The ROC curve is used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a test by plotting the true positive rate against the false positive rate.
Likelihood Ratios: Likelihood ratios provide a measure of how much a positive or negative test result changes the probability of having the disease.
Bias: Bias can occur in diagnostic testing when the test results are systematically different from the true values.
Diagnostic Threshold: The diagnostic threshold is the cutoff point between a positive and negative test result.
Prevalence: Prevalence refers to the proportion of individuals in a population who have the disease.
Bayes' Theorem: Bayes' theorem is used to adjust the probability of having a disease based on the results of a diagnostic test.
Diagnostic Accuracy: Diagnostic accuracy refers to how well a test correctly identifies individuals who have or do not have the disease.
Test Validity: Test validity refers to the ability of a diagnostic test to accurately measure what it is supposed to measure.
Test Reliability: Test reliability refers to the degree to which a diagnostic test produces consistent results across multiple administrations.
Gold Standard Test: A gold standard test is the most accurate diagnostic test available and is used as a reference point for evaluating the accuracy of other diagnostic tests.
Diagnostic Yield: Diagnostic yield refers to the proportion of individuals who have the disease and are correctly identified by a diagnostic test.
False Positive and False Negative Rates: False positive rate is the proportion of individuals who do not have the disease but are incorrectly identified as having it, while false negative rate is the proportion of individuals who have the disease but are incorrectly identified as not having it.
Diagnostic Test Cost-effectiveness: Diagnostic test cost-effectiveness refers to the balance between the benefits and costs of using a particular diagnostic test.
Diagnostic Test Utilization: Diagnostic test utilization refers to how often a particular diagnostic test is used in clinical practice.
Rapid diagnostic tests: These tests are designed to provide a quick result in a matter of minutes, which can be very useful in the field.
Serological tests: Tests that look for specific antibodies in blood samples. They can help diagnose infectious diseases of all types.
Molecular tests: Tests involving DNA or RNA amplification to detect the presence of an infectious agent.
Imaging tests: Tests that use different forms of imaging to visualize areas of the body to detect physical abnormalities.
Physical examination: Examining the body for things like masses, tenderness or other signs of disease.
Histological tests: Tests that examine the tissue samples under a microscope to identify abnormal growth or organisms.
Laboratory tests: Tests that are done in a laboratory rather than in a clinical setting.
Specimen testing: Examining specimens of bodily fluids like blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluids for the presence of diseases.
Endoscopy: An invasive test that allows doctors to view the inside of certain organs or organs cavities.
Electrocardiography: ECG tests are used to diagnose heart problems by recording the heart's electrical activity.
"The information required for diagnosis is typically collected from a history and physical examination of the person seeking medical care."
"Often, one or more diagnostic procedures, such as medical tests, are also done during the process."
"Sometimes the posthumous diagnosis is considered a kind of medical diagnosis."
"Diagnosis is often challenging because many signs and symptoms are nonspecific."
"Thus, differential diagnosis, in which several possible explanations are compared and contrasted, must be performed."
"Occasionally, the process is made easy by a sign or symptom (or a group of several) that is pathognomonic."
"Diagnosis is a major component of the procedure of a doctor's visit."
"This involves the correlation of various pieces of information followed by the recognition and differentiation of patterns."
"Medical diagnosis (abbreviated Dx, Dx, or Ds)..."
"The information required for diagnosis is typically collected from a history and physical examination..."
"Often, one or more diagnostic procedures, such as medical tests, are also done during the process."
"Sometimes the posthumous diagnosis is considered a kind of medical diagnosis."
"Diagnosis is often challenging because many signs and symptoms are nonspecific."
"Thus, differential diagnosis... must be performed."
"Occasionally, the process is made easy by a sign or symptom (or a group of several) that is pathognomonic."
"Diagnosis is a major component of the procedure of a doctor's visit."
"This involves the correlation of various pieces of information..."
"From the point of view of statistics, the diagnostic procedure involves classification tests."
"Medical diagnosis (abbreviated Dx, Dx, or Ds)..."