Differential Misclassification of Disease under Partial-Mouth Sampling

The effect of misclassification of a cluster-level dichotomous outcome (disease) due to partial-cluster sampling on its association with a dichotomous exposure is investigated.

Disease (e.g., chronic periodontitis) is deemed to exist in a cluster (e.g., full mouth) when a condition of interest (e.g., pocket depth or clinical attachment loss exceeding an established threshold) is present in number and pattern across observations (e.g., tooth sites) in the cluster according to a specific criterion. When a subset of observations within each cluster is selected (i.e., partial-mouth sampling), specificity of disease is 100% (in the absence of site-level measurement error), whereas sensitivity is imperfect and generally unknown. Using conditional probability arguments, we investigate disease misclassification under partial-cluster sampling and its impact on the estimated disease-exposure association when the exposure is cluster level and measured without error.

When the probability of disease varies by exposure status, outcome misclassification at the cluster level is differential under partial-cluster sampling and depends on 1) the partial recording protocol, including the number of observations sampled and the particular sites selected in a cluster; 2) the joint probability structure of the condition within clusters; and 3) the criterion for disease. A numeric example demonstrates that disease-exposure odds ratios under partial-cluster random sampling can be biased in either direction (toward or away from the null) relative to gold-standard odds ratios under full-cluster sampling.

In general, misclassification of disease is differential under partial-cluster sampling. In particular, sensitivity and negative predictive values depend on exposure status, which leads to biased inference.

Partial-mouth sampling causes disease misclassification probabilities, including sensitivity, to vary by exposure groups when disease prevalence differs between groups. As a result, disease-exposure associations may be under- or overestimated by standard analysis procedures for periodontal data relative to full-mouth estimates. Procedures that address bias are needed for partial-recording protocols.