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Set Theory in Medical Testing

This document discusses using set theory and medical testing to determine if a person has a syndrome. It defines sets for the total population in a clinical trial (X), those who have the syndrome (S), and those who do not (H). A test is used to determine who tests positive (P) or negative (N) for the syndrome. The goal is for S to equal P (true positives) and H to equal N (true negatives), but false positives, negatives, and rates are also discussed. Cardinality is analyzed to determine proportions with or without the syndrome and ideal true/false positive and negative rates.

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Yandi Layadi
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40 views2 pages

Set Theory in Medical Testing

This document discusses using set theory and medical testing to determine if a person has a syndrome. It defines sets for the total population in a clinical trial (X), those who have the syndrome (S), and those who do not (H). A test is used to determine who tests positive (P) or negative (N) for the syndrome. The goal is for S to equal P (true positives) and H to equal N (true negatives), but false positives, negatives, and rates are also discussed. Cardinality is analyzed to determine proportions with or without the syndrome and ideal true/false positive and negative rates.

Uploaded by

Yandi Layadi
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Data Science Math Skills

Paul Bendich and Daniel Egger


Duke University

Sets: Medical Testing Example


Video companion

1 Example using set theory


VBS: “very bad syndrome”

X = set of people in a clinical trial

S = {x ∈ X : x has VBS}
H = {x ∈ X : x does not have VBS}

X =S∪H (you either have VBS or you don’t)


S∩H =∅ (no one both has and doesn’t have it)

Point of medial testing to figure out whether a person is in S or in H

2 Test
P = {x ∈ X : x tests positive for VBS}
N = {x ∈ X : x tests negative for VBS}

P ∪N =X (you either test positive or negative)


P ∩N =∅ (no one tests both positive and negative)

In a perfect world, S would equal P —the sick people would always test positive, and H
would equal N —the healthy people would always test negative.
...but this is not always the case.

S∩P H ∩N S∩N H ∩P
true positive true negative false negative false positive

1
Data Science Math Skills
Paul Bendich and Daniel Egger
Duke University

3 Cardinality
|S|
|X|
= proportion of people in the study who do genuinely have VBS
|H|
|X|
= proportion of people in the study without VBS
|S| |H|
|X|
+ |X|
=1

|S∩P |
|S|
true positive rate would like to be close to 1
|H∩P |
|H|
false positive rate would like to be as small as possible
|S∩N |
|S|
false negative rate would like to be as small as possible
|H∩N |
|H|
true negative rate would like to be close to 1

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