DiTA: helping you search for evidence of diagnostic test accuracy in physical therapy

Abstract

Background

Physical therapists use diagnostic tests in a variety of settings. Choosing the best diagnostic test to apply in a particular situation can be difficult. The choice of diagnostic test should be informed, at least in part, by evidence of test accuracy. Finding evidence of diagnostic test accuracy has, until recently, been challenging. Ideally, there would exist a database that comprehensively indexes evidence on diagnostic tests relevant to physical therapy practice, is free to access, and is easy to use.

Objective

This Masterclass will describe the DiTA (Diagnostic Test Accuracy) database (dita.org.au) including its development and search interface, and provide advice on how to search and retrieve records.

Discussion

DiTA indexes more than 2400 primary studies and systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy relevant to physical therapy practice. Users can search DiTA using text fields and dropdown lists to find evidence of diagnostic test accuracy. The database is freely accessible on the internet. Since its launch, DiTA has been accessed from almost every country in the world, the largest number of searches having been conducted from Brazil.