@misc{10481/62875,
year = {2020},
month = {6},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/62875},
abstract = {Background: The comparison of the performance of two binary diagnostic tests is an important topic in Clinical
Medicine. The most frequent type of sample design to compare two binary diagnostic tests is the paired design.
This design consists of applying the two binary diagnostic tests to all of the individuals in a random sample, where
the disease status of each individual is known through the application of a gold standard. This article presents an R
program to compare parameters of two binary tests subject to a paired design.
Results: The “compbdt” program estimates the sensitivity and the specificity, the likelihood ratios and the predictive
values of each diagnostic test applying the confidence intervals with the best asymptotic performance. The program
compares the sensitivities and specificities of the two diagnostic tests simultaneously, as well as the likelihood ratios
and the predictive values, applying the global hypothesis tests with the best performance in terms of type I error and
power. When the global hypothesis test is significant, the causes of the significance are investigated solving the
individual hypothesis tests and applying the multiple comparison method of Holm. The most optimal confidence
intervals are also calculated for the difference or ratio between the respective parameters. Based on the data observed
in the sample, the program also estimates the probability of making a type II error if the null hypothesis is not rejected,
or estimates the power if the if the alternative hypothesis is accepted. The “compbdt” program provides all the
necessary results so that the researcher can easily interpret them. The estimation of the probability of making a type II
error allows the researcher to decide about the reliability of the null hypothesis when this hypothesis is not rejected.
The “compbdt” program has been applied to a real example on the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.
Conclusions: The “compbdt” program is one which is easy to use and allows the researcher to compare the most
important parameters of two binary tests subject to a paired design. The “compbdt” program is available as
supplementary material.},
organization = {This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Grant
Number MTM2016–76938-P.},
publisher = {BMC},
keywords = {Binary diagnostic test},
keywords = {Likelihood ratios},
keywords = {Paired design},
keywords = {Predictive values},
keywords = {Sensitivity and specificity},
title = {Compbdt: an R program to compare two binary diagnostic tests subject to a paired design},
doi = {10.1186/s12874-020-00988-y},
author = {Roldán Nofuentes, José Antonio},
}