Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Medical Decision Making
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Somoza, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Somoza, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Eccentric Diagnostic Tests

Redefining Sensitivity and Specificity

Eugene Somoza, MD, PhD

Diagnostic tests exist for which the current definitions of sensitivity and specificity are in adequate. Such tests are called eccentric to distinguish them from normal diagnostic tests, for which the standard definitions are satisfactory. It is shown that when the standard defi nitions are used with eccentric tests there will be an appreciable range of cutoff values over which the test has no discriminating power. This is demonstrated with ROC analysis and information theory New definitions of sensitivity and specificity that are valid for both normal and eccentric tests are proposed. These definitions require the use of two cutoffs to distin guish test-positive from test-negative individuals When the new definitions are used with eccentric tests, performance improves significantly and the anomalous regions of zero dis criminating power disappear. In the limit of zero eccentricity the new definitions become identical to the old. Key words: eccentric diagnostic tests; sensitivity; specificity, ROC anal ysis ; information theory. (Med Decis Making 1996;16:15-23)

Medical Decision Making, Vol. 16, No. 1, 15-23 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/0272989X9601600108
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?