Meta-analysis of the diagnostic efficiency of frequency-doubling technology for primary glaucoma

Abstract

The overall diagnostic capabilities and utility of frequency-doubling technology (FDT) in patients with primary glaucoma, which was diagnosed by standard automated perimetry (SAP) and/or optic disc appearance as the gold standard, were assessed. A comprehensive electric retrieval in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, BIOSIS, Previews, HMIC, IPA, OVID, CNKI, CBMdisc, VIP information, CMCC, CCPD, SSreader, 21dmedia and manual retrieval in related textbooks, journals, congress articles and their references at home and abroad were performed to identify relevant articles in English or Chinese. The corresponding references were retrieved by means of electric retrieval and manual retrieval from different databases or materials. Criteria for inclusion or exclusion were established according to validity criteria for diagnostic studies published by the Cochrane Methods Group on Screening and Diagnostic Tests. The quality of the included articles was then assessed and characteristics were extracted. Statistical analysis was performed with Meta Test version 0.6 software to test the heterogeneity of the included articles. The appropriate effects model was selected to calculate pooled weighted sensitivity and specificity. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was drawn and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed. Twenty-one studies out of 206 retrieved articles were included, with a total of 3172 patients. The reported sensitivity of FDT ranged from 0.51 to 1.00, and specificity from 0.58 to 1.00. The pooled weighted sensitivity and specificity of FDT with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) after correction for standard error were 0.86 (0.80 0.90) and 0.87 (0.81 0.91), respectively. The AUC of SROC was 93.01%. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated no disproportionate influences of individual studies. The included articles are of good quality and FDT can be a highly efficient diagnostic test for primary glaucoma based on Meta-analysis.