February, 2003
© 2000, 2001, 2003 Scott S. Emerson, M.D., Ph.D.
Predictive value of statistically significant result depends
on
Probability of beneficial drug
·fixed when treatment to test is chosen
Specificity
·fixed
by level of significance (.05 by popular convention, so specificity
is 95%)
Sensitivity
·statistical
power made as high as possible by statistical design