Presentation of Diagnostic Test Accuracy

  1. Daniel J. Brotman, MD
  1. From Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21287.

    TO THE EDITOR:

    Puhan and colleagues (1) deserve praise for their creative assessment of how well physicians interpret diagnostic test results, but I disagree with their conclusion that likelihood ratios are no more informative than sensitivity and specificity. The authors asked clinicians to estimate the post-test probabilities of various conditions by using pretest probabilities and diagnostic test results. The operating characteristics of each diagnostic test were provided in terms of likelihood ratios, sensitivity and specificity, or a graphic display. There are 2 problems with this approach.

    First, familiarity …

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    1. Ann Intern Med February 7, 2006 vol. 144 no. 3 221
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