Instructions for Using the MInCir Scale to Assess Methodological Quality in Diagnostic Accuracy Studies Instrucciones para Utilizar la Escala MInCir para Valorar Calidad Metodológica de Estudios de Diagnóstico o Pruebas Diagnósticas

MANTEROLA, C.; CARTES-VELASQUEZ, R. & OTZEN, T. Instructions for using the MInCir scale to assess methodologicalquality in diagnostic accuracy studies. Int. J. Morphol., 34(1):78-84, 2016.SUMMARY: Globally, the assessment of methodological quality (MQ) in biomedical research is an area of dynamic developmentover recent years. Understood as a complex and multidimensional construct, various groups have proposed tools for its assessmen t. Ourteam has designed and validated scales to assess MQ of therapy and prognosis studies. However, as with other instruments, it is necessaryto specify in detail how it is applied, in such a way as to be able to standardize the measurements made with this instrument. A detaileddescription is presented of the 3 domains (type of research design [single item domain], size of population studied [single ite m domain],and methodology [7 items]) and 9 items comprising the scale, specifying for each item how to assess the characteristics and sco re articlesof diagnostic accuracy studies. The application of this instrument requires critical evaluation of each of the items to assign the respectivescore, which sum to give a total score of between 9 and 45 points. The cut-off point to define the construct MQ (dichotomous) for thistype of study is 20 points. This article provides an application guideline that may help to improve inter-observer and intra-observerreliability of the MInCir MQ scale for diagnostic accuracy studies. The aim of this article is to provide a guideline for the standardizedapplication of the MInCir MQ scale for diagnostic accuracy studies.KEY WORDS: Investigative Techniques; Methods/epidemiology; methodological studies; Diagnosis; Diagnostic tests;Reproducibility of Results; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Epidemiological Studies; Evidence-Based Medicine.