Medicine’s Uncomfortable Relationship With Math: Calculating Positive Predictive Value
Open accessAbstract
of the patients who died with a diagnosis of hematologic malignant neoplasm had received treatment within 14 days of the end of life, indicating a major difference in treatment practice for these disorders compared with solid tumors.Communication with patients about realistic prognosis, treatment planning, and advanced care planning is a critical component across the continuum of oncology care. 5 A recent report issued by the Institute of Medicine specifically emphasizes that "[p]atients with advanced cancer should receive end-of-life care consistent with their needs, values, and preferences." 6 We hope that analysis and reporting of observed practice patterns and disease outcomes will drive discussions between physicians and patients that address realistic concerns and the patient's values around end-of-life care.
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The PPV and NPV estimates from the study should not be extrapolated to other clinical settings where the prevalence of AD is substantially different.
“Correspondingly, the PPV and NPV estimates from our study should not be extrapolated to other clinical settings where the prevalence of AD is substantially different11,12,14,15.”
From Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using plasma biomarkers adjusted to clinical probability (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
The Results and Discussion explain that PPV depends on disease prevalence, supporting caution about applying a PPV estimate where prevalence differs. The paper does not discuss NPV, AD, or estimates from the citing authors’ study, so it does not support those parts of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPredictive values are critical for interpreting individual-level test results.
“In contrast, predictive values are critical for interpreting individual-level test results11,12,14,15.”
From Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using plasma biomarkers adjusted to clinical probability (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
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References 4 · Cited by 74
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [4]Association of American Medical Colleges MR5: 5th Comprehensive Review of the Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/mr5/. Accessed October 9, 2013
- Authors
- Manrai, A. K., Bhatia, G., Strymish, J., Kohane, I. S., & Jain, S. H.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Broad Institute (US)
- Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States) (US)
- Venue
- JAMA Internal Medicine
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2014-06-01
- Volume
- 174
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 991
- ISSN
- 2168-6106 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4955674
- OpenAlex
- W1999471281
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 4.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- JAMA Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Human Genome Research Institute (T32HG002295)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
- Keywords
- end-of-life care, hematologic malignancies, advanced cancer, prognosis communication, advance care planning, treatment patterns, patient preferences, cancer care
- MeSH terms
- False Positive Reactions, Humans, Predictive Value of Tests, Statistics as Topic
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