Statistical models for quantifying diagnostic accuracy with multiple lesions per patient

Biostatistics. 2008 Jul;9(3):513-22. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxm052. Epub 2008 Jan 18.

Abstract

We propose random-effects models to summarize and quantify the accuracy of the diagnosis of multiple lesions on a single image without assuming independence between lesions. The number of false-positive lesions was assumed to be distributed as a Poisson mixture, and the proportion of true-positive lesions was assumed to be distributed as a binomial mixture. We considered univariate and bivariate, both parametric and nonparametric mixture models. We applied our tools to simulated data and data of a study assessing diagnostic accuracy of virtual colonography with computed tomography in 200 patients suspected of having one or more polyps.

MeSH terms

  • Colonic Polyps / diagnosis*
  • Colonography, Computed Tomographic
  • Colonoscopy
  • Diagnostic Errors / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Models, Statistical*
  • ROC Curve
  • Sensitivity and Specificity