title: Challenges and opportunities in evaluating diagnostic tests.
abstract: The field of clinical research conducted to evaluate diagnostic tests has evolved substantially over the last 25 years. This article discusses three current challenges and opportunities in conducting such research: the limitations of the "traditional focus" of clinical epidemiology in evaluating tests; how different decision makers use data produced by clinical epidemiology research, and what those uses mean for future research; and special challenges and opportunities in evaluating molecular-based tests.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7080 724 Burnett-Womack, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7080, USA. ransohof@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Ransohoff
mesh_terms: D003933:Diagnosis; D004813:Epidemiology / Q000639:trends; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity