Evaluating Medical Tests: Objective and Quantitative Guidelines / Edition 1

by Helena Chmura Kraemer

Overview

In this book, Kraemer presents a systematic, objective methodology by which to determine the effectiveness of medical tests. She shows clearly and concisely how to define statistical terms and approaches consistently from study to study, how to stipulate statistical assumptions underlying various approaches, how to check for empirical validity and how to judge the robustness of statistical outcomes, resulting in models that integrate many different approaches and extend the strengths of each.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803946125
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/23/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Helena Chmura Kraemer is professor emerita of biostatistics in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. She earned her BA in mathematics from Smith College, attended Manchester University on a Fulbright Scholarship, and received her Ph D in statistics from Stanford University. Kraemer’s specific research interests include improvement to randomized clinical trial methodology, assessment of reliability and validity of diagnoses and clinical measurement, and developing mathematical models for specific problems in behavioral and clinical research. She has published extensively in the behavioral as well as statistical literature. Kraemer has received the Harvard Prize in Psychiatric Biostatistics and Epidemiology (2001), the Andrew C. Leon Distinguished Career Award (2014), an Honorary Doctor of Science from Wesleyan University (2014), and is a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (2003). In retirement, she continues to serve on several editorial boards, and consult on research projects.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Disorder and Diagnosis
Definition
Test Protocol, Response, Referent
Families of Test Referents
Population and Sampling
Sensitivity and Specificity
The Signal Detection Approach
Predictive Values
The Bayesian Approach, Risk Ratios and Odds Ratio
Efficiency
Choosing Clinically Optimal Tests
Taking Test Costs into Account
Costworthy Tests
Basic Issues in Using Multiple Tests
Evaluating Batteries of Medical Tests
Optimal Sequences
Evaluating Batteries of Medical Tests
Optimal Scores
Evaluating Batteries of Prognostic Tests with Variable Follow-Up Times
Evaluation of Medical Tests
The Past, Present and Future

Editorial Reviews

"This volume is a pleasure to read. It succinctly combines carefully reasoned conceptualization with the mathematical methods for addressing test evaluation problems. With clinically relevant illustrative examples, it draws on the author’s extensive experience and research in biomedical statistics. It is a classic!"

John Rush