Estimation of log-odds ratio from group testing data using Firth correction

27/11/2022

Estimation of log-odds ratio from group testing data using Firth correction

Surupa Roy and Tathagata Banerjee

Journal Articles | Biometrical Journal: Journal of Mathematical Methods in Biosciences

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We consider the estimation of the prevalence of a rare disease, and the log-odds ratio for two specified groups of individuals from group testing data. For a low-prevalence disease, the maximum likelihood estimate of the log-odds ratio is severely biased. However, Firth correction to the score function leads to a considerable improvement of the estimator. Also, for a low-prevalence disease, if the diagnostic test is imperfect, the group testing is found to yield more precise estimate of the log-odds ratio than the individual testing.

IIMA