Table 1

Summary of the characteristics of the included studies.

Author, year, country	Sample number	Patient age and characteristics	Study design	Inclusion criteria	Index test (multiplex PCR)	Routine testing methods	Adjudication methods for discordant results
Deng J et al19 2015, China	290 stool samples	Mixed (median age of 25 months and ranging from 11 days to 83 years.)	Prospective	Diarrheal patients	Luminex xTAG	Bacterial culture, serotyping for Salmonella and Shigella, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays for viral detection, microscopic examination for parasite detection.	Singleplex PCR andsequencing
								Chhabra P et al2 2017, USA	300 stool samples	Mixed (from children and adults)	Retrospective	Patient with acute gastroenteritis	Luminex xTAG and FilmArray	TAC system, real-time PCR and sequencing	No
																Alejo-Cancho I et al4 2017, Spain	95 stool samples	95 immunocompromised adult patients, with a median age of 52 years (46–64).	Prospective	Acute diarrheal patient	FilmArray	Routine microbiological techniques, including bacterial culture, C. difficile toxin study, microsoopy for parasite, virus antigen.	Second multiplex assay (Allplex, Seegene, Korea)
																								Duong VT et al5 2016, Vietnam	479 stool samples were collected from 92 adults and 387 children	The median age of the adult patients was 50 years (interquartile range [IQR], 33 to 64 years). In children, the median age was 16.5 months (IQR, 6.7 to 20 months).	Retrospective	Diarrheal patients	Luminex xTAG	Microbiological culture and real-time PCR	No
																																Khare R et al10 2014, USA	230 prospectively collected samples and 270 additional previously characterized samples	Unclear	Prospective and retrospective	Stool samples submitted to laboratory for routine GI testing.	Luminex xTAG and FilmArray	Routine testing (e.g., culture, microscopy, antigen testing, and/or individual real-time PCR)	Real-time PCR
																																								Buss SN et al18 2015, USA	1556 stool samples	Mixed (adult and children)	Prospective	Stool samples submitted with orders by the provider for stool culture	FilmArray	Stool culture, PCR	PCR and sequencing assays
								Claas EC et al9 2013, The Netherlands	901 stool specimens	Mixed (adult and children)	Prospective	Stool collected in four hospitals	Luminex xTAG	Routine testing (e.g., culture, microscopy, EIA/DFA, or real-time PCR)	No
																																																Halligan E et al20 2014, UK	2187 diarrhoeal stool samples.	Unclear	Prospective	Diarrheal patients	Luminex xTAG	Conventional tests including microbiological culture, microscopy, microwell enzyme immunoassay, immunochromatographic test	No
																																																								Mengelle C et al21 2013, France	440 stool samples	4 groups included: 102 adult organ transplant recipients (mean age, 50.6; median, 56; range, 17–75), 50 immunosuppressed children (mean age, 5; median, 7; range, 0–14), 56 children attending the neonatal unit (aged under 1 year) and 121 children attending the emergency unit (mean age, 2.80; median, 9; range, 0–16).	Prospective	Diarrheal patients	Luminex xTAG	Routine diagnostic methods (e.g., culture, microscopy, immunochromatographic assay, and multiplex PCR)	No
																Zboromyrska Y et al22 2014, Spain	185 stool samples	Traveller's diarrheal patients with unclear age	Prospective	Patients with traveller’s diarrhea	Luminex xTAG	Routine diagnostic methods (e.g., culture, microscopy, mass spectrometry, and multiplex PCR)	Conventional PCR and bidirectional sequencing
Huang RS et al17 2016, USA	98 retrospective and 54 prospective stool samples	Pediatric patients	Retrospective and prospective	Patient with acute gastroenteritis	Luminex xTAG and FilmArray	Conventional testing including stool cultures, immunochromatographic rapid tests, and singleplex RT-PCR	No