title: Diagnostic testing: an emergency medicine perspective.
abstract: Emergency physicians use diagnostic tests extensively, and the ability to order and interpret test results appropriately is a critical skill. An understanding of sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios, as well as an awareness of the importance of pre-test probability, is essential. The purpose of this article is to explain, in a straightforward and clinically applicable manner, the core concepts related to diagnostic testing.
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Worster
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Innes
authors.forename: Riyad B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Abu-Laban