McKenzie B A
Adobe Animal Hospital, 4470 El Camino Real, Los Altos, CA, 94022, USA.
J Small Anim Pract. 2021 Nov;62(11):1016-1021. doi: 10.1111/jsap.13393. Epub 2021 Jun 30.
Veterinarians have a vast and ever-expanding array of diagnostic tests available to them. However, this abundance can be an embarrassment of riches that confounds diagnosis and undermines patient care if we do not make critical and informed decisions about the selection and interpretation of the tests we employ. Effective use of diagnostic tests requires a deliberate and informed approach. We must consider the strengths and weaknesses of the tests themselves and the clinical context, and we must be wary of the many biases that skew our use and interpretation of diagnostic tests. Understanding sensitivity and specificity, likelihood, prevalence and predictive value, the basic principles of Bayesian reasoning, and the cognitive biases that drive inappropriate testing are all critical to ensuring our use of imaging and laboratory testing improves patient outcomes.
兽医可利用大量且不断扩充的诊断测试方法。然而，如果我们在选择和解读所采用的测试时不做出审慎且明智的决策，这种丰富性可能会成为一种令人困惑的“财富过剩”，混淆诊断并损害患者护理。有效使用诊断测试需要一种深思熟虑且明智的方法。我们必须考虑测试本身的优缺点以及临床背景，并且必须警惕许多会扭曲我们对诊断测试的使用和解读的偏差。理解敏感性和特异性、似然比、患病率和预测值、贝叶斯推理的基本原理，以及导致不适当检测的认知偏差，对于确保我们使用影像学和实验室检测改善患者治疗结果而言都至关重要。
