Estimating Cancer Screening Sensitivity and Specificity Using Healthcare Utilization Data: Defining the Accuracy Assessment Interval
Recommended Citation
Chubak J, Burnett-Hartman AN, Barlow WE, Corley DA, Croswell JM, Neslund-Dudas C, Vachani A, Silver MI, Tiro JA, and Kamineni A. Estimating Cancer Screening Sensitivity and Specificity Using Healthcare Utilization Data: Defining the Accuracy Assessment Interval. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022; 31(8):1517-1520.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2-2022
Publication Title
Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention
Abstract
The effectiveness and efficiency of cancer screening in real-world settings depend on many factors, including test sensitivity and specificity. Outside of select experimental studies, not everyone receives a gold standard test that can serve as a comparator in estimating screening test accuracy. Thus, many studies of screening test accuracy use the passage of time to infer whether or not cancer was present at the time of the screening test, particularly for patients with a negative screening test. We define the accuracy assessment interval as the period of time after a screening test that is used to estimate the test's accuracy. We describe how the length of this interval may bias sensitivity and specificity estimates. We call for future research to quantify bias and uncertainty in accuracy estimates and to provide guidance on setting accuracy assessment interval lengths for different cancers and screening modalities.
Medical Subject Headings
Bias; Early Detection of Cancer; Humans; Mass Screening; Neoplasms; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Sensitivity and Specificity
PubMed ID
35916602
Volume
31
Issue
8
First Page
1517
Last Page
1520
