Emerging Infectious Disease ISSN: 1080-6059

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*†‡

Author affiliations: *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; #Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

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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).

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).

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