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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Mar 18;21(1):12.
doi: 10.1186/s12941-022-00503-9.

Detection performance of PCR for Legionella pneumophila in environmental samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Xin Yin  1   2 , Ying-Zhou Chen  1   3 , Qi-Qing Ye  1   2 , Li-Juan Liao  3 , Zhuo-Rui Cai  4 , Min Lin  5 , Jia-Na Li  6 , Geng-Biao Zhang  6 , Xiao-Li Peng  5 , Wen-Fang Shi  7 , Xu-Guang Guo  8   9   10   11
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Detection performance of PCR for Legionella pneumophila in environmental samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Xin Yin et al. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. .

Abstract

Background: Legionellosis remains a public health problem. The most common diagnostic method to detect Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is culture. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a fast and accurate method for this detection in environmental samples.

Methods: Four databases were searched for studies that evaluated the detection efficiency of PCR in L. pneumophila. The quality evaluation was conducted using Review Manager 5.3. We used Meta-DiSc 1.4 software and the Stata 15.0 software to create forest plots, a meta-regression, a bivariate boxplot and a Deeks' funnel plot.

Results: A total of 18 four-fold tables from 16 studies were analysed. The overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of PCR was 94% and 72%, respectively. The positive likelihood ratio (RLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) was 2.73 and 0.12, respectively. The result of the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 22.85 and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.7884.

Conclusion: Establishing a laboratory diagnostic tool for L. pneumophila detection is important for epidemiological studies. In this work, PCR demonstrated a promising diagnostic accuracy for L. pneumophila.

Keywords: Diagnosis; L. pneumophila; Legionella pneumophila; PCR.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Methodological quality summary of included studies
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Methodological quality graph of included studies
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of L. pneumophila
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Specificity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of L. pneumophila
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Positive likelihood ratio (PLR) of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of L. pneumophila
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of L. pneumophila
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
DOR of PCR in the detection of L. pneumophila
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Summary receiver operating characteristic curve
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Meta-regression for heterogeneity analysis
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Bivariate box plot for heterogeneity analysis
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Deeks’ funnel plot asymmetry test
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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