Abstract

The area of the relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve provides a nonparametric index of diagnostic test performance.¹ The area of the ROC curve is criterion-free and corresponds to the discriminability of patient test scores from normal test scores. That is, the area of the ROC curve is equivalent to the probability of correctly identifying patient test results in a two-alternative forced-choice decision task. Because of this equivalence, ROC analysis provides for the comparison of subjective clinical judgments with quantitative test results, using the same statistic.^1-2

© 1988 Optical Society of America