title: Development and evaluation of classifiers.
abstract: Diagnostic tests, medical tests, screening tests, biomarkers, and prediction rules are all types of classifiers. This chapter introduces methods for classifier development and evaluation. We first introduce measures of classification performance including sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. We then review some issues in the design of studies to assess and compare the performance of classifiers. Approaches for using the data to estimate and compare classifier accuracy are then introduced. Next, methods for combining multiple classifiers into a single classifier are presented. Lastly, we discuss other important aspects of classifier development and evaluation. The methods presented are illustrated with real data.
authors.affiliation: Children's Oncology Group, University of Southern California, Arcadia, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Alonzo
authors.forename: Margaret Sullivan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pepe
mesh_terms: D001064:Appendicitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002648:Child; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D014463:Ultrasonography