Enhanced Inference for Finite Population Sampling-Based Prevalence Estimation with Misclassification Errors

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Ge, Lin, Zhang, Yuzi, Waller, Lance A., Lyles, Robert H.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2023
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author Ge, Lin
Zhang, Yuzi
Waller, Lance A.
Lyles, Robert H.
author_facet Ge, Lin
Zhang, Yuzi
Waller, Lance A.
Lyles, Robert H.
contents Epidemiologic screening programs often make use of tests with small, but non-zero probabilities of misdiagnosis. In this article, we assume the target population is finite with a fixed number of true cases, and that we apply an imperfect test with known sensitivity and specificity to a sample of individuals from the population. In this setting, we propose an enhanced inferential approach for use in conjunction with sampling-based bias-corrected prevalence estimation. While ignoring the finite nature of the population can yield markedly conservative estimates, direct application of a standard finite population correction (FPC) conversely leads to underestimation of variance. We uncover a way to leverage the typical FPC indirectly toward valid statistical inference. In particular, we derive a readily estimable extra variance component induced by misclassification in this specific but arguably common diagnostic testing scenario. Our approach yields a standard error estimate that properly captures the sampling variability of the usual bias-corrected maximum likelihood estimator of disease prevalence. Finally, we develop an adapted Bayesian credible interval for the true prevalence that offers improved frequentist properties (i.e., coverage and width) relative to a Wald-type confidence interval. We report the simulation results to demonstrate the enhanced performance of the proposed inferential methods.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2302_03558
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publishDate 2023
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spellingShingle Enhanced Inference for Finite Population Sampling-Based Prevalence Estimation with Misclassification Errors
Ge, Lin
Zhang, Yuzi
Waller, Lance A.
Lyles, Robert H.
Methodology
Statistics Theory
Epidemiologic screening programs often make use of tests with small, but non-zero probabilities of misdiagnosis. In this article, we assume the target population is finite with a fixed number of true cases, and that we apply an imperfect test with known sensitivity and specificity to a sample of individuals from the population. In this setting, we propose an enhanced inferential approach for use in conjunction with sampling-based bias-corrected prevalence estimation. While ignoring the finite nature of the population can yield markedly conservative estimates, direct application of a standard finite population correction (FPC) conversely leads to underestimation of variance. We uncover a way to leverage the typical FPC indirectly toward valid statistical inference. In particular, we derive a readily estimable extra variance component induced by misclassification in this specific but arguably common diagnostic testing scenario. Our approach yields a standard error estimate that properly captures the sampling variability of the usual bias-corrected maximum likelihood estimator of disease prevalence. Finally, we develop an adapted Bayesian credible interval for the true prevalence that offers improved frequentist properties (i.e., coverage and width) relative to a Wald-type confidence interval. We report the simulation results to demonstrate the enhanced performance of the proposed inferential methods.
title Enhanced Inference for Finite Population Sampling-Based Prevalence Estimation with Misclassification Errors
topic Methodology
Statistics Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.03558