Description

The discriminant power for a test, also termed the test effectiveness, is a measure of how well a test distinguishes between affected and unaffected persons. It is the log of the positive likelihood ratio plus the log of the negative likelihood ratio, scaled by the standard deviation of the logistic normal distribution curve (square root of 3 divided by π). Test effectiveness is interpreted as the standardized distance between the means for both populations.


discriminant power =

= (SQRT(3) / π) * (LN(X) + LN(Y))

 

X =

= ((sensitivity) / (1 - (sensitivity)))

 

Y =

= ((specificity) / (1 - (specificity)))

 

Interpretation:

• A test with a discriminant value of 1 is not effective in discriminating between affected and unaffected individuals.

• A test with a discriminant value of 3 is effective in discriminating between affected and unaffected individuals.


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