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Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) Curves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Mary D. Nettleman*
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa

Abstract

The goal of diagnostic testing is to identify patients with a particular disease. Often, it is just as important that the test not mistakenly identify healthy persons as having disease. For example, a new test for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) might identify 99.99% of all patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, if the test is positive in large numbers of persons who are not infected, its usefulness may be overshadowed by the harm caused by false positive results.

Type
Special Sections
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1988 

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