Quantifying the value of markers in screening programmes

Søren Dinesen Østergaard (1) , Peter Thisted Dinesen (2) , Leslie Foldager (3, 4)

1 Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital
2 Department of Political Science
3 Centre for Psychiatric Research
4 Bioinformatics Research Centre (BiRC)

Existing methods used to rank the value of individual screening markers in screening programmes are inadequate. We have developed a simple Screening Marker Index: (Screening Marker Index = Positive Predictive Value × Sensitivity). The Screening Marker Index proved to be superior to existing indices in ranking screening markers according to their ability to identify the conditions sought.

Mots clés: Screening; Sensitivity; Specificity

Søren Dinesen Østergaard, Peter Thisted Dinesen, Leslie Foldager. Quantifying the value of markers in screening programmes. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2010, 25 (3), pp.151-154. ⟨10.1007/s10654-010-9430-z⟩. ⟨hal-00565384⟩