TY - JOUR AU - Bravata, Dena M. AU - Sundaram, Vandana AU - McDonald, Kathryn M. AU - Smith, Wendy M. AU - Szeto, Herbert AU - Schleinitz, Mark D. AU - Owens, Douglas K. T1 - Evaluating Detection and Diagnostic Decision Support Systems for Bioterrorism Response T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2004 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 100 SN - 1080-6059 AB - We evaluated the usefulness of detection systems and diagnostic decision support systems for bioterrorism response. We performed a systematic review by searching relevant databases (e.g., MEDLINE) and Web sites for reports of detection systems and diagnostic decision support systems that could be used during bioterrorism responses. We reviewed over 24,000 citations and identified 55 detection systems and 23 diagnostic decision support systems. Only 35 systems have been evaluated: 4 reported both sensitivity and specificity, 13 were compared to a reference standard, and 31 were evaluated for their timeliness. Most evaluations of detection systems and some evaluations of diagnostic systems for bioterrorism responses are critically deficient. Because false-positive and false-negative rates are unknown for most systems, decision making on the basis of these systems is seriously compromised. We describe a framework for the design of future evaluations of such systems. KW - bioterrorism KW - public health KW - expert systems KW - population surveillance KW - detection KW - diagnosis KW - United States DO - 10.3201/eid1001.030243 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/1/03-0243_article ER - End of Reference