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Statistical Inference for Non-inferiority of a Diagnostic Procedure Compared to an Alternative Procedure, Based on the Difference in Correlated Proportions from Multiple Raters

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Abstract

In a clinical trial of diagnostic procedures to indicate non-inferiority, the efficacy is generally evaluated on the basis of the results from multiple raters who interpret and report their findings independently. Although we can handle the multiple results from the multiple raters as if there were a single rater by considering consensus evaluations or majority votes, this handling is not recommended for the primary evaluation. Therefore, all results from the multiple independent raters should be used in the analysis. This chapter addresses a non-inferiority test, confidence interval and sample size formula, for inference of the difference in correlated proportions between the two diagnostic procedures based on the multiple raters. Moreover, we illustrate the methods with data from studies of diagnostic procedures for the diagnosis of oesophageal carcinoma infiltrating the tracheobronchial tree and for the diagnosis of aneurysm in patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage.

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Correspondence to Hiroyuki Saeki .

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Saeki, H., Tango, T. (2014). Statistical Inference for Non-inferiority of a Diagnostic Procedure Compared to an Alternative Procedure, Based on the Difference in Correlated Proportions from Multiple Raters. In: van Montfort, K., Oud, J., Ghidey, W. (eds) Developments in Statistical Evaluation of Clinical Trials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55345-5_7

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