[The application of medical decision making to the mass screening: the basic principles on ROC analysis]. 1990

I Tsji
Department of Public Health, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai.

The basic principles on receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were discussed. ROC curves showed the discriminative ability of a test by the position of the full curve in a graph plotting the relation between the true positive rate (TPR) and the false positive rate (FPR) over a wide range of cut-off points of a test. The increase in the area under the ROC curve, or the shift of the curve upward and to the left in the diagram means that the test has better discriminative ability. A manual was given to conduct the ROC analysis with special reference to calculation of TPR, FPR, and the area under the ROC curve. Also discussed was the method to decide the best or optimal cut-off point as the positivity criterion of a test, based on the ROC analysis. Attention was paid to balance the risk of false negatives and false positives. We made an equation to decide the best cut-off point, which showed us the variables to be considered in the analysis of cut-off problems: the prevalence of disease and the outcome associated with each state classified by the test, i.e., true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008403 Mass Screening Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease. Screening,Mass Screenings,Screening, Mass,Screenings,Screenings, Mass
D003661 Decision Support Techniques Mathematical or statistical procedures used as aids in making a decision. They are frequently used in medical decision-making. Decision Analysis,Decision Modeling,Models, Decision Support,Analysis, Decision,Decision Aids,Decision Support Technics,Aid, Decision,Aids, Decision,Analyses, Decision,Decision Aid,Decision Analyses,Decision Support Model,Decision Support Models,Decision Support Technic,Decision Support Technique,Model, Decision Support,Modeling, Decision,Technic, Decision Support,Technics, Decision Support,Technique, Decision Support,Techniques, Decision Support
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012372 ROC Curve A graphic means for assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons; may also be used in other studies, e.g., distinguishing stimuli responses as to a faint stimuli or nonstimuli. ROC Analysis,Receiver Operating Characteristic,Analysis, ROC,Analyses, ROC,Characteristic, Receiver Operating,Characteristics, Receiver Operating,Curve, ROC,Curves, ROC,ROC Analyses,ROC Curves,Receiver Operating Characteristics
D012680 Sensitivity and Specificity Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed) Specificity,Sensitivity,Specificity and Sensitivity

Related Publications

I Tsji
October 1978, Seminars in nuclear medicine,
I Tsji
October 1978, Seminars in nuclear medicine,
I Tsji
September 1999, Bulletin du cancer,
I Tsji
April 1993, Medizinische Klinik (Munich, Germany : 1983),
I Tsji
May 2005, The Consultant pharmacist : the journal of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists,
I Tsji
May 1990, Rinsho byori. The Japanese journal of clinical pathology,
I Tsji
May 1976, The Yale journal of biology and medicine,
I Tsji
November 1992, Journal of gerontology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!