Disease-a-month : DM
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The interpretation and selection of exercise tests depends on the pretest probability of CAD. Imperfect tests (like exercise tests) provide probability estimates, not definite statements (such as "the patient has CAD" or "the patient does not have CAD"). In patients with a low pretest probability of CAD (asymptomatic persons or men and women with nonanginal chest pain), abnormal exercise test results provide probability estimates that are much too low to conclude that the patient has CAD. ⋯ Physicians should be cautious when applying these recommendations to a primary care practice. The foregoing analysis is based on data obtained from patients who had been selected for coronary arteriography. There are two principal effects of biased selection of study patients: The pretest probability of CAD in clinical subgroups is probably lower than as shown here.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)