Study designs of evaluations included in the review
No inclusion criteria relating to the study design were specified. Two studies were diagnostic cohort studies and one was a diagnostic case-control study.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies in which all patients received pulse palpation were eligible for inclusion. In all studies a nurse carried out the pulse palpation.
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
Studies in which all patients received an electrocardiogram (ECG) as the reference standard were eligible for inclusion. In all studies a cardiologist carried out the ECG diagnosis.
Participants included in the review
No inclusion criteria relating to the participants were specified. All studies included patients aged over 65 years from UK general practices.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The studies had to report sufficient data to calculate the sensitivity and specificity, or this had to be provided by the study authors.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
Two reviewers independently screened the results of the searches. Full text documents of relevant papers were obtained, and the two reviewers assessed these for inclusion according to predetermined criteria. Included articles were agreed by both authors.