Este análisis usa unBayesiano enfoque y Muestra de Gibbs to estimate the true animal-level prevalence of infection based on testing of individual (not pooled) samples using two (2) tests with imperfect sensitivities and/or specificities. The analysis requires prior estimates of true prevalence and sensitivity and specificity for both tests as Distribuciones de probabilidad Beta. Las salidas sondistribuciones de probabilidad posteriores Por prevalencia, sensibilidad y especificidad. El análisis asume que las dos pruebas son independientes, condicionales al estado de la enfermedad. VerJoseph et al. (1995) para más detalles.
Las entradas requeridas para este análisis son:
The number of samples tested must be a positive integer and the number of positive samples must be an integer >=0 and <= the number of samples tested. Alpha and beta parameters for prevalence, sensitivities and specificities must be >0 and upper and lower confidence limits must be >0 and <1. Starting values for the numbers of truly infected individuals in each cell of the 2x2 table must be integers >= zero and <= the number of results in that cell. The number of iterations and the number discarded must both be positive integers (>0) and the number discarded must be less than the number of iterations.
Para este análisis, los resultados observados de las pruebas con dos pruebas concurrentes se pueden describir en una tabla de 2x2 como sigue:
| Prueba 2: | ||
| Prueba 1:    |    +ve    |    -ve    |
| +ve: | a | b |
| -ve: | c | d |
where a, b, c & d are the observed number of sample results in each cell. A proportion of these samples in each cell will be from truly infected animals, depending on true prevalence and test sensitivities and specificities. The Muestra de Gibbs is used to estimate the true number of infected animals represented in each of the cells ( Y1, Y2, Y3 & Y4) y por tanto generardistribuciones de probabilidad posteriores for true prevalence, and test sensitivities and specificities that best fit the data and the prior distributions provided.
Prior estimates of the true prevalence and test sensitivity and specificity may be based on expert knowledge or on previous data. These estimates are specified as Distribuciones de probabilidad Beta, con parámetrosalfa y beta. Beta probability distributions are commonly used to express uncertainty about a proportion based on a random sample of individuals. In this situation, if x individuals are positive for a characteristic out of n examined, then the alpha and beta parameters can be calculated as alpha = x + 1 and beta = n - x + 1. Alternatively, alpha and beta can be calculated using the Utilidad de distribución Beta, provided estimates of the mode and 5% or 95% confidence limits are available from expert opinion.
Las salidas del muestreador de Gibbs son distribuciones de probabilidad posteriores para:
Estas distribuciones se describen por su:
Because the Gibbs sampler estimates prevalence iteratively, based on the data and the prior distributions, it may take a number of iteraciones for the model to converge on the true value. Therefore, a specified number of initial iterations must be descartado (not used for estimation) to allow the model to converge on the true values. This number must be sufficient to allow convergence, and should be at least 2000 - 5000. It is also important to carry out an adequate number of iterations to support inference from the results. Suggested minimum values for the total number of iterations and the number to be discarded are provided, but can be varied if desired.
Este análisis puede tardar varios minutos en completarse, dependiendo del número de iteraciones requeridas.