Kühnisch Jan, Janjic Rankovic Mila, Kapor Svetlana, Schüler Ina, Krause Felix, Michou Stavroula, Ekstrand Kim, Eggmann Florin, Neuhaus Klaus W, Lussi Adrian, Huysmans Marie-Charlotte
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80336 Munich, Germany.
Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80336 Munich, Germany.
J Clin Med. 2021 Jul 22;10(15):3223. doi: 10.3390/jcm10153223.
Caries diagnostic studies differ with respect to their design, included patients/tooth samples, use of diagnostic and reference methods, calibration, blinding and data reporting. Such heterogeneity makes comparisons between studies difficult and could represent a substantial risk of bias (RoB) when it is not identified. Therefore, the present report aims to describe the development and background of a RoB assessment tool for caries diagnostic studies. The expert group developed and agreed to use a RoB assessment tool during three workshops. Here, existing instruments (e.g., QUADAS 2 and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' Manual) influenced the hierarchy and phrasing of the signalling questions that were adapted to the specific dental purpose. The tailored RoB assessment tool that was created consists of 16 signalling questions that are organized in four domains. This tool considers the selection/spectrum bias (1), the bias of the index (2) and reference tests (3), and the bias of the study flow and data analysis (4) and can be downloaded from the journal website. This paper explores possible sources of heterogeneity and bias in caries diagnostic studies and summarizes the relevant methodological aspects.
龋病诊断研究在设计、纳入的患者/牙齿样本、诊断方法和参考方法的使用、校准、盲法和数据报告等方面存在差异。这种异质性使得研究之间的比较变得困难，并且在未被识别时可能代表着实质性的偏倚风险（RoB）。因此，本报告旨在描述一种用于龋病诊断研究的RoB评估工具的开发过程和背景。专家组在三次研讨会期间开发并同意使用一种RoB评估工具。在此，现有工具（如QUADAS 2和乔安娜·布里格斯研究所评审手册）影响了为适应特定牙科目的而调整的信号问题的层次结构和措辞。创建的定制RoB评估工具由16个信号问题组成，这些问题分为四个领域。该工具考虑了选择/谱偏倚（1）、指标（2）和参考测试（3）的偏倚以及研究流程和数据分析（4）的偏倚，可从期刊网站下载。本文探讨了龋病诊断研究中异质性和偏倚可能的来源，并总结了相关的方法学方面。
