Diagnostic Statistical Measures and Their Utilities in Clinical Decision Making

Abstract

As an additional study design, understanding diagnostic studies consisting of various statistical measures plays an important role for healthcare professionals to make informed clinical decisions. They help in the evaluation of the test accuracy of newer diagnostic tests in comparison to available gold standard tests for a disease through measures of concordance (e.g., sensitivity; specificity); measures of discordance (e.g., 1-sensitivity; 1-specificity); and some others (e.g., predictive values; receiver operating characteristic curve; likelihood ratios). Through more accurate diagnosis, they provide guidance regarding treatment decisions and monitoring of disease progression. Through their better understanding, healthcare professionals can select the most appropriate diagnostic tests, make more accurate diagnoses and develop effective treatment plans. In other words, it can help in improving patient outcomes and optimizing resource utilization. Along with basic terminologies, various indices used under diagnostic studies, and their applications, are briefly described in the present write-up so that readers become fully aware of them and use them in day-to-day clinical decision-making.