Merit of test: perspective of information economics

Galeotti, A, Steiner, J and Surico, P (2020) Merit of test: perspective of information economics. Health Policy and Technology, 9 (4). pp. 575-577. ISSN 2211-8837

Abstract

This article assesses the merit of a test through the lenses of economics, with applications to SARS-CoV-2. This allows us to rank distinct tests and to show that this ranking is not universal; it depends on the pre-test information available to the decision-maker and the losses stemming from incorrect actions. We provide a method to select, from multiple tests with different sensitivity and specificity, the test that helps the decision-maker the most to achieve her objective.