Tools of Predictive Diagnostics: Status Quo and Outlook

Suboptimal health status (SHS) refers to the intermediate state between health and disease. When a person has SHS, there are no obvious or specific clinical manifestations and relevant laboratory indicators are not helpful, making SHS difficult to assess. SHS mainly manifests itself in the early stages of various chronic health conditions. Appropriate diagnostic tools are therefore essential for the proper assessment and intervention of SHS and for maintaining the health of the population. Research into the subjective and objective assessment and quantitative diagnosis of SHS is still in its infancy, and the main predictive diagnostic tools for SHS include subjective measures, i.e., health questionnaires and scales, and objective measures: laboratory-based biological, biochemical and molecular biology tests and big data analysis. The subjective method could reflect self-perceived SHS conveniently and the objective way is able to realise more precise evaluation. Each kind of assessment method has either advantages or disadvantages. It is imperative to develop an effective, precise, economical SHS assessment system to promote optimal health status. Subjective methods can easily reflect self-perceived SHS, whereas objective methods can provide a more accurate assessment. Each method of assessment has its advantages and disadvantages. It is therefore important to develop a valid, accurate and cost-effective SHS assessment system that promotes optimal health.