An evaluation of the accuracy of clinical diagnosis at admission in a population with epidemic meningococcal disease

• Published in: Journal of Internal Medicine
• Main Authors: MATHIASSEN, B., THOMSEN, H., LANDSFELDT, U.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1989
• Subjects: Internal Medicine; Faroe Islands; Thomsen; Torshavn
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2796.1989.tb01364.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2796.1989.tb01364.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2796.1989.tb01364.x

Abstract Mathiassen B, Thomsen H, Landsfeldt U (Department of Internal Medicine. Landssygehuset (Queen Alexandrina's Hospital). Torshavn. Faroe Islands). An evaluation of the accuracy of clinical diagnosis at admission in a population with epidemic meningococcal disease. The accuracy (sensitivity and positive predictive value) of the clinical diagnosis given by the general practitioner before admission to hospital was evaluated retrospectively in a population with epidemic meningococcal disease. The study population consisted of approximately 32000 subjects. In a 12‐year period, 344 patients were discharged from hospital with CNS infections, 274 of whom were admitted with a diagnosis suspecting a CNS infection. A further 401 patients were admitted with suspicion for, but discharged without a CNS infection. Overall, the sensitivity was 79.7% and the positive predictive value was 40.6%. There were no significant changes in the accuracy during the study. The sensitivity differed significantly between the age groups ( P < 0.001) and was lowest among the adults (15 + years, 67.9%) and the 0–2‐year‐old children (72.7%). Also among the 0–2 year‐olds, the positive predictive value was low (34.1%) and not significant, indicating that it was more difficult to obtain the correct clinical diagnosis in this group.