IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/medema/v22y2002i3p228-237.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determining Sensitivity of Mammography from Screening Data, Cancer Incidence, and Receiver-Operating Characteristic Curve Parameters

Author

Listed:
  • John M. Boone

    (Department of Radiology, University of California, Davis)

  • Karen K. Lindfors

    (Department of Radiology, University of California, Davis)

  • J. Anthony Seibert

    (Department of Radiology, University of California, Davis)

Abstract

Objectives . A mathematical model is presented that allows the computation of the sensitivity and specificity of breast screening based on receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve shape, the positive predictive value (PPV) of screening mammography, and the cancer incidence, f. Methods . The normal and cancer populations are modeled as normal distributions with independent means and standard deviations. The distributions are scaled such that the area of the normal population is equal to 1 - f and that of the cancer population is f . The PPV for screening mammography is used to determine the operating point on the ROC curve. Knowing this leads directly to the computation of sensitivity and specificity. The derivation is general and is applicable to both symmetrical and asymmetrical ROC curves. Results . For symmetric ROC curves and typical values for the PPV of mammography (about 8%) and cancer incidence (f = 0.003), an A z value of 0.95 was required to achieve 63% sensitivity and an A z value of 0.98 led to 86% sensitivity. Conclusion .A model was developed that should allow researchers to deduce sensitivity and specificity for screening mammography based on ROC curve measurements and using realistic values of PPV and f . This model allows A z values to be related to the probability of breast cancer detection.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. Boone & Karen K. Lindfors & J. Anthony Seibert, 2002. "Determining Sensitivity of Mammography from Screening Data, Cancer Incidence, and Receiver-Operating Characteristic Curve Parameters," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 22(3), pages 228-237, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:22:y:2002:i:3:p:228-237
    DOI: 10.1177/0272989X0202200311
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0272989X0202200311
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0272989X0202200311?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:22:y:2002:i:3:p:228-237. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.