The use of efficiency linear programs for sensitivity analysis in medical decision making.
Sensitivity analysis in most medical problems is a complex process involving repeated calculations that can be computationally cumbersome, and its results are only approximate. The authors present a linear program-based approach that reveals the optimum strategies in a decision problem when event probabilities are not known exactly but their value ranges are available. Its application in a clinical decision-making situation is demonstrated. The approach promises to provide a flexible, precise, and computationally efficient technique for sensitivity analysis in medical decision making.
Parkan
C
C
Faculty of Management, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Hollands
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L
D000368:Aged; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D003663:Decision Trees; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009874:Operations Research; D011382:Programming, Linear; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity