2004 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 89-97
We developed a Web based knowledge-base system accumulating essential information from studies of diagnostic accuracy with the function of searching and displaying those information. It is also available for performing systematic review among several reviewers. The accumulating information was comprised of bibliographic data, quality assessment and additional relevant data for adapting the evidence to clinical medicine as well as data of diagnostic performance. For performing systematic review, the system can display a table of quality assessment of primary studies in which any difference of it among each item validated by working group members is comparable, and a table of diagnostic accuracy of included studies with summary ROC curve and forest plots. Thus, it can provide a common collaborative workplace on the Internet for several reviewers. Moreover, this system is also available to register unpublished studies. Although it is still under development and it needs to overcome the several shortcomings such as security, we believe it has potential to be a useful knowledge-base system for the area of diagnostic test.
