Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Basics of Multivariate Analysis in Neuroimaging Data
Published on: July 24, 2010
Bayesian estimation for performance measures of two diagnostic tests in the presence of verification bias
Davi Casale Aragon1, Edson Zangiacomi Martinez, Jorge Alberto Achcar
1Department of Social Medicine, Medical School of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.
Abstract:
Sensitivity and specificity are measures that allow us to evaluate the performance of a diagnostic test. In practice, it is common to have situations where a proportion of selected individuals cannot have the real state of the disease verified, since the verification could be an invasive procedure, as occurs with biopsy. This happens, as a special case, in the diagnosis of prostate cancer, or in any other situation related to risks, that is, not practicable, nor ethical, or in situations with high cost. For this case, it is common to use diagnostic tests based only on the information of verified individuals. This procedure can lead to biased results or workup bias. In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian approach to estimate the sensitivity and the specificity for two diagnostic tests considering verified and unverified individuals, a result that generalizes the usual situation based on only one diagnostic test.
Related Concept Videos
Testing a Claim about Standard Deviation
The hypothesis testing for the claim of population standard deviation (or variance) requires the data and samples to be random and unbiased. The population distribution also must be normal. There is no specific requirement on the sample size as the estimation is based on the chi-square distribution.
As a first step, the hypothesis (null and alternative) concerning the claim about...
Accuracy and Errors in Hypothesis Testing
In hypothesis testing, the probability of making a Type I error, denoted as α, is commonly set at 0.05. This significance level indicates a 5% chance...
Sensitivity, Specificity, and Predicted Value
Sensitivity is the...
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Bonferroni Test
The means of different samples are first paired in all possible combinations.
The null hypothesis of the...
Behrens–Fisher Test
This test is...