Reference standardResearch

The best available test used as the benchmark to judge a new test's accuracy.

The reference standard (sometimes called the gold standard) is the test, procedure, or diagnostic criterion accepted as the most accurate available method for confirming or ruling out a condition, against which a new or index test's performance is compared. Diagnostic accuracy studies use it to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and related statistics for the index test. No reference standard is perfect, and in some domains no true gold standard exists, so results should be interpreted alongside the reference standard's own known limitations.

• Identifying rotator cuff disorders through shoulder movement quality: An exploratory study using a single inertial measurement unit · issue 002

This guide was auto-drafted and is pending editorial review.