STATISTICAL-METHODS FOR THE ESTIMATION OF SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITYOF SITE-SPECIFIC DIAGNOSTIC-TESTS

The performance of periodontal diagnostic tests is often evaluated by estimating their sensitivity and specificity with respect to a traditi onally accepted standard test regarded as a ''gold standard'' in makin g the diagnosis. Correlated samples of binary data arise in dental res earch. The fundamental unit for analysis is occasionally the site rath er than the patient in site-specific dental studies. Statistical metho ds that take into account the within-patient correlation should be emp loyed to estimate the sensitivity and the specificity of diagnostic te sts since site-specific results within a patient can be highly correla ted. Several statistical methods are introduced for the estimation of the sensitivity and the specificity of site-specific diagnostic tests; these techniques are applied to the data from a study involving an en zymatic diagnostic test to motivate and illustrate the estimation of t he sensitivity and the specificity of periodontal diagnostic tests.