Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Clinical cohort studies were eligible for inclusion. Both prospective and retrospective studies were included.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies that assessed clinical symptoms and/or physical examination of the pelvis for detecting pelvic fractures (including acetabular fractures) were eligible for inclusion. Specific components of the clinical assessment investigated by the included studies were: history, swelling, compression, instability, neuropathy, inspection, hip range of movement, rectal examination, deformity and urethral bleeding.
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
No inclusion criteria relating to the reference standard were specified. The reference standards in the included studies were anteroposterior pelvic radiographs, computed tomography or clinical follow-up.
Participants included in the review
Studies of adults or children who had experienced blunt trauma were eligible for inclusion. Some of the included studies only included patients scoring over specified values on the Glasgow Coma Scale (from 10 or more to 15); other studies included patients with any grade on this scale.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Studies had to report data on sensitivity or specificity to be included in the review. The majority of the studies reported data on both the sensitivity and specificity, whereas one only reported sensitivity and two only reported specificity.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection. [A: A single reviewer assessed studies for inclusion.]