Design, statistical analysis and reporting standards for test accuracy studies for infectious diseases in animals: Progress, challenges and recommendations

Abstract

The quality of diagnostic accuracy studies (DAS) for infectious diseases of animals has improved over the last 20 years because of international educational efforts, use of design and reporting standards to guide researchers and test developers, and acceptance of the use of latent class models to account for imperfect reference tests. In this review, we focus on measurement of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as a measure of clinical validity, describe the leadership role of the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) in setting standards for test validation in the context of fitness-for-purpose, and describe how design and reporting quality have facilitated the increased use of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of DAS. Ongoing challenges for design, conduct, analysis and reporting of DAS are identified; and we make recommendations for improvements in these areas for OIE-listed and non-listed infectious diseases.

Keywords: Analysis; Animal disease; Design; Quality standards; Reporting; Sensitivity; Specificity; Test accuracy.