Volume 10, Number 1, January 2004

Evaluating Detection and Diagnostic Decision Support Systems for Bioterrorism Response

Dena M. Bravata,*† Vandana Sundaram,*†‡ Kathryn M. McDonald,*† Wendy M. Smith,*† Herbert Szeto,*†§ Mark D. Schleinitz,¶# and Douglas K. Owens*†‡
*University of California San Francisco-Stanford Evidence-based Practice Center, Stanford, California, USA; †Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA; ‡VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, Palo Alto, California, USA; §Kaiser Permanente, Redwood City, California, USA; ¶Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA; and #Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Figure 2. Receiver-operating characteristic curves (ROC). Each point along a ROC represents the trade-off in sensitivity and specificity, depending on the threshold for an abnormal test. Here, two hypothetical diagnostic tests are compared. The diagnostic test represented by the unbroken ROC curve is a better test than that represented by the broken ROC curve, as demonstrated by its greater sensitivity for any given specificity (and thus, greater area under the curve).

EID Home | Top of Page | Ahead-of-Print | Past Issues | Suggested Citation | EID Search | Contact Us | Accessibility | Privacy Policy Notice | CDC Home | CDC Search | Health Topics A-Z

This page last reviewed December 12, 2003

Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal
National Center for Infectious Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention