Test panel


A test panel is a predetermined group of medical tests as an aid in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Test panels are typically composed of individual laboratory tests which are related in some way: by the medical condition they are intended to help diagnose, by the specimen type, by the tests most frequently requested by users, by the methodology employed in the test, or by the types of components included.

Advantages of diagnostic test panels over individual diagnostic tests

Test panels offer various advantages to laboratories performing the tests as well as to end users such as ordering physicians and hospitals. The presence of several tests responsive to the same clinical condition may also increase the chances of detecting that condition.

Disadvantages of test panels

Among the disadvantages of test panels are the inclusion of diagnostically sub-optimal tests based upon commercial availability of test reagents, cost considerations, or compatibility with the testing instruments and methods. Another disadvantage is the fact that approximately 5% of the test results can be expected to fall outside the normal range for purely statistical reasons. Thus, there is an expectation that the number of abnormal appearing results will increase with the number of tests in the panel. For a typical twenty-test panel, there will be, on average, one or more of these apparent abnormal results.
The proportion of such apparently abnormal results may be even higher if the normal ranges printed on the report do not accurately reflect the species, gender or age of the patient. It is common for normal ranges for bodily fluid constituents to differ from the general population for very young or old patients, and in some cases for males versus females. Differences in those parameters between species are more the rule than the exception.
The statistical considerations typically do not apply for qualitative tests, such as drug screens, unless the substance being tested for is actually present at a concentration near the cutoff concentration.