The book is a compilation of articles about the quality of diagnostic accuracy studies that are coauthored by Penny Whiting. As a matter of fact, each book chapter except the introduction has been published in Ann Intern Med, J Clin Epidemiol, BMJ, and BioMed Central between 2003 and 2006.

The target audience is systematic reviewers of diagnostic accuracy studies. It is structured as a short reference book, providing detailed evidence on the development, use, and evaluation of a quality assessment tool of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS).

In the short introduction, the author outlines the concepts underlying the evaluation of diagnostic tests and briefly describes each chapter’s contents. The second chapter presents a systematic review of sources of variation and bias in studies of diagnostic accuracy. …