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Arch Dermatol. 2001;137:1645-1646.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

THE ARTICLE BY Chen et al¹ titled "A Comparison of Dermatologists' and Primary Care Providers' Accuracy in Diagnosing Melanoma: A Systematic Review" offers a wonderful example of meta-analysis based on well-defined criteria. It serves as a superbly instructive and illustrative example of how to ask a well-defined clinical question and how to plan a well-designed clinical study to answer it. Researchers in all areas and levels of clinical dermatology should examine this article and strive to incorporate the lessons it offers into their own work.

The analysis of comparative accuracy in diagnosing melanoma suggests that the data showing the special expertise of dermatologists at identifying melanomas are not as overwhelming as may have been perceived. Determining the comparative diagnostic ability of different groups of physicians is quite complex. To start, one must have a "gold standard" for the correct diagnosis of a clinical lesion. Unless a biopsy specimen has been . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

A Comparison of Dermatologists' and Primary Care Physicians' Accuracy in Diagnosing Melanoma: A Systematic Review
Suephy C. Chen, Dena M. Bravata, Evette Weil, and Ingram Olkin
Arch Dermatol. 2001;137(12):1627-1634.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

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The Debate Over Diagnostic Accuracy in Melanoma: Dermatologists or General Practitioners?
Grob and Richard
Arch Dermatol 2002;138:1251-1252.
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