IMAJ | volume 12
Journal 6, June 2010
pages: 334-337
Summary
Background:
Non-invasive screening tests may allow early diagnosis and prompt treatment, thereby potentially reducing morbidity and mortality and reducing costs for the community. This may be especially important for gynecologic pathologies that are difficult to promptly diagnose, such as endometriosis or ovarian cancer.
Objectives:
To evaluate the reliability of measuring skin resistance using the Medex Test for screening and diagnosis of gynecologic pathologies in a blinded single-center study.
Methods:
We enrolled 150 patients: 59 with a functional disorder and 91 with an organic disease. Measurements were carried out in all patients and the results were analyzed separately by a second physician who was blinded to the patients’ diagnosis.
Results:
A high correlation was found between the clinical diagnosis and the results of the measurement of electrical skin resistance, with a specificity of 76.3% (45/59) for functional disorders and a sensitivity of 85.7% (78/91) for organic disorders, positive predictive value of 84.8% (78/92) and negative predictive value 77.6% (45/58). The kappa value for the results was 0.622, representing a value much better than expected randomly.
Conclusions:
The Medex Test has a good specificity and a high sensitivity for the diagnosis of gynecologic disorders. Further prospective studies are needed to validate these preliminary findings.