CONTENTS
Laboratory-based Medical Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Clinical use of laboratory studies
Expressing laboratory results
Variability in laboratory results
Laboratory Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Laboratory measurements
The process of measurement
The method of measurement
Method quality
Maintaining quality
Method practicability
Method evaluation
Method comparison
Diagnostic and Prognostic Classification
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Diagnostic study performance
The probability of disease in an individual patient
Selecting diagnostic studies
Prognostic study performance
The prognosis in an individual
Selecting prognostic studies
Evaluating Classification Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Evaluating medical utility
Performance evaluations
Meta-analysis
Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Laboratory monitoring
Screening for subclinical disorders
Monitoring physiologic status
Monitoring disease activity
Monitoring therapeutic response
Biologic Variability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Sources of biologic variability
Sex
Race
Age
Biorhythms
