Gold standard (procedure)

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Gold standard is a catchphrase . On the one hand, it is used to denote processes that have so far been unsurpassed. However, it also describes new procedures which, in the opinion of their protagonists , should become the standard, or those old procedures that are advocated for retention in view of other or newer methods. In most cases, it is either a question of procedures that have been used in many places for a long time, or of those that are to be used.

origin

The name gold standard comes from finance and money management . It describes a currency system that was common in the past , in which a currency unit is defined by the value of a fixed amount of fine gold .

Before the First World War, there was an international system of countries with gold standard starting from Great Britain for a few decades. H. with fixed mutual exchange rates . During the First World War, exchangeability was abolished by many of the countries involved in the war and could not be reintroduced in the old form in the 1920s either. In the Great Depression of 1931, the USA also lifted the gold backing of the US dollar . Towards the end of the Second World War , the question of the future of the international financial system arose again. The Bretton Woods system was agreed . This existed until the early 1970s ; It was based on a direct link between the exchange rates ( fixed exchange rate ) of the participating countries and the US dollar and on the exchangeability of the currencies for gold.

The then US President Richard Nixon stopped the exchange of US dollars for gold on August 15, 1971 (“ Nixon shock ”). In 1976 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended that its members remove the gold peg of currencies.

Use of the term

In medicine , the currently generally recognized action with regard to a disease is referred to as the gold standard, the generally applicable and authoritative standard. It forms the basis against which every new process must be measured. The term appears in different contexts:

  • for the best way to detect or rule out a disease
  • for particularly successful therapies for diseases, especially in certain disease stages
  • when planning studies

Once such a standard is in place, its authority is often so overwhelming that it takes some effort to shake it.

However, the metaphor is used very extensively in medicine, often without precise knowledge of what the term is derived from.

Evidence-based medicine and randomized, controlled studies ( blind studies ) are often referred to as the gold standard, but they are also controversial at the same time. Not every gold standard is based on these principles, however. Some things cannot be developed with evidence-based medicine, for example when there are problems with comparing the cases.

In advertising , the term "gold standard" is also used now advertises Reckitt Benckiser for his dishwashing Calgonite with a "Diamond Standard".

criticism

The term gold standard is problematic because standards are constantly being discussed and redefined.

For English-language publications, e. B. Tom E. Love and P. Finbarr Duggan gold standard no longer to be used. Criterion standard , for example, is suggested as a better alternative .

literature

  • Stefan Timmermans, Marc Berg: The gold standard. The challenge of evidence-based medicine and standardization in health care. Temple University Press, Philadelphia PA 2003, ISBN 1-59213-187-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Wolfgang U. Eckart : History of Medicine. Facts, concepts, attitudes. 6th, completely revised edition. Springer-Medizin-Verlag, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-79215-4 , pp. 323-324.
  2. ↑ gold standard. In: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
  3. ↑ gold standard. In: Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  4. ↑ Günter Krämer : Epilepsy from A – Z. Understand medical terms. 4th edition. TRIAS, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8304-3229-1 , p. 193.
  5. ↑ a b Stefan Timmermans, Marc Berg: The gold standard. The challenge of evidence-based medicine and standardization in health care. Temple University Press, Philadelphia PA 2003, p. 27.
  6. ↑ Reiner W. Heckl: With best regards ... Linguistic stupidity in medicine . 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Steinkopff, Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-7985-1618-9 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  7. ↑ a b Jurgen AHR Claassen: The gold standard: not a golden standard. In: British Medical Journal . Vol. 330, No. 7500, 2005, p. 1121, doi: 10.1136 / bmj.330.7500.1121 .
  8. ↑ Ellen Kuhlmann, Petra Kolip: Gender and Public Health. Basic orientations for research, practice and politics. Juventa, Weinheim et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7799-1566-9 , p. 200.
  9. ^ Peter von Wichert : Evidenzbasierte Medizin (EbM): Term deideologize. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . Vol. 102, Issue 22, 2005, pp. A-1569-1570, online .
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Vollmoeller: Integrative treatment in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Concepts and strategies. Schattauer, Stuttgart et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7945-2207-9 , p. 9.
  11. ↑ Example from the Internet ( Memento of the original dated May 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pharmasports.de
  12. ↑ calgonit.de
  13. ↑ Michaela Brause: The royal road to the heart? The influence of non-medical characteristics on the provision of invasive cardiac services. ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Huber, Bern 2009, ISBN 978-3-456-84649-1 . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.verlag-hanshuber.com
  14. ↑ E. Versi: "Gold standard" is an appropriate term. In: British Medical Journal. Vol. 305, 1992, p. 187, doi: 10.1136 / bmj.305.6846.187-b .
  15. ↑ Tom E. Love: All that glisters is not gold. In: British Medical Journal. Bd. 327, 2003, p. 1315, doi: 10.1136 / bmj.327.7427.1315
  16. ↑ P. Finbarr Duggan: Time to abolish "gold standard". In: British Medical Journal. Vol. 304, 1992, pp. 1568-1569, doi: 10.1136 / bmj.304.6841.1568-b .
  17. ↑ Glossary of Methodologic Terms (PDF; 24 kB) Elsevier Verlag, see also Criterion Standard