Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Diagnostic accuracy studies were eligible for inclusion if assessors of the urine samples were blind to the other test results.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of the Micral-Test II were eligible for inclusion, whereas studies of the Micral-Test were excluded. In the included studies, urine for testing was collected at various time points (24 hour sample, or first or second morning voided sample or spot sample).
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
Studies that compared the Micro-Test II with an established laboratory test in the same sample of people were eligible for inclusion. The included studies used radioimmunoassay, immunoturbidimetry, or nephelometry laboratory methods. The review only included data from patients for whom the reference level for raised albumin was 20 mg/L.
Participants included in the review
Studies of patients with diabetes were eligible for inclusion. Studies that included people with diabetes, but did not report the results separately for this group, were excluded.
Outcomes assessed in the review
It was unclear whether only studies that presented sensitivity and specificity data were eligible. The outcome measures used in the review were sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values and, where possible, the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The author did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.