title: Comparing diagnostic tests using information theory: the INFO-ROC technique.
abstract: We continue our examination of diagnostic tests that are used to assign individuals to one of two mutually exclusive categories, those having or not having a particular disorder. Our last article showed how the information yielded by a test depends on the choice of cutoff and on the patient's pre-test probability of having the disorder. In this article, we demonstrate a method of optimizing a test's information yield that allows us to determine which of several tests gives the most information. Our technique allows us to compare a test's performance with that of a perfect diagnostic test.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45220.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Somoza
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mossman
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007257:Information Theory; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D011930:Reaction Time; D012895:Sleep, REM