The value of latent class analysis in medical diagnosis
- 1 January 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Statistics in Medicine
- Vol. 5 (1), 21-27
- https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.4780050105
Abstract
Assessment of the value of diagnostic indicators such as symptoms and laboratory tests results from calculation of the sensitivity and specificity of the indicators. Knowledge of the rate of occurrence of the disease allows for additional calculations of the error rates in using an indicator. These calculations are accurate only when the data on which they are based are reliable. If the diagnosis, which is used as the criterion for computing the sensitivity and specificity, is not accurate, then the resulting calculations will be in error. We show how a statistical method, latent class analysis, allows for the estimation of the characteristics of indicators even when an accurate diagnosis is unavailable. In addition, the method deals with several indicators at once, and provides a way to combine the information from all the indicators to make a diagnosis.This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Analysis of Probability as an Aid in the Clinical Diagnosis of Coronary-Artery DiseaseNew England Journal of Medicine, 1979
- Exploratory latent structure analysis using both identifiable and unidentifiable modelsBiometrika, 1974
- The Analysis of Systems of Qualitative Variables When Some of the Variables Are Unobservable. Part I-A Modified Latent Structure ApproachAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1974