Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs.
The diagnosis of canine echinococcosis can be a challenge in surveillance studies because there is no perfect gold standard that can be used routinely. However, unknown test specificities and sensitivities can be overcome using latent-class analysis with appropriate data.We utilised a set of faecal...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:59dc5ed141f44fb0a6ca1935cb67156b 2023-05-15T15:15:18+02:00 Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. Sonja Hartnack Christine M Budke Philip S Craig Qiu Jiamin Belgees Boufana Maiza Campos-Ponce Paul R Torgerson 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002068 https://doaj.org/article/59dc5ed141f44fb0a6ca1935cb67156b EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3573084?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002068 https://doaj.org/article/59dc5ed141f44fb0a6ca1935cb67156b PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 7, Iss 2, p e2068 (2013) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002068 2022-12-30T20:51:29Z The diagnosis of canine echinococcosis can be a challenge in surveillance studies because there is no perfect gold standard that can be used routinely. However, unknown test specificities and sensitivities can be overcome using latent-class analysis with appropriate data.We utilised a set of faecal and purge samples used previously to explore the epidemiology of canine echinococcosis on the Tibetan plateau. Previously only the purge results were reported and analysed in a largely deterministic way. In the present study, additional diagnostic tests of copro-PCR and copro-antigen ELISA were undertaken on the faecal samples. This enabled a Bayesian analysis in a latent-class model to examine the diagnostic performance of a genus specific copro-antigen ELISA, species-specific copro-PCR and arecoline purgation. Potential covariates including co-infection with Taenia, age and sex of the dog were also explored. The dependence structure of these diagnostic tests could also be analysed.The most parsimonious result, indicated by deviance-information criteria, suggested that co-infection with Taenia spp. was a significant covariate with the Echinococcus infection. The copro-PCRs had estimated sensitivities of 89% and 84% respectively for the diagnoses of Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus. The specificities for the copro-PCR were estimated at 93 and 83% respectively. Copro-antigen ELISA had sensitivities of 55 and 57% for the diagnosis of E. multilocularis and E. granulosus and specificities of 71 and 69% respectively. Arecoline purgation with an assumed specificity of 100% had estimated sensitivities of 76% and 85% respectively.This study also shows that incorporating diagnostic uncertainty, in other words assuming no perfect gold standard, and including potential covariates like sex or Taenia co-infection into the epidemiological analysis may give different results than if the diagnosis of infection status is assumed to be deterministic and this approach should therefore be used whenever possible. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 7 2 e2068 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Sonja Hartnack Christine M Budke Philip S Craig Qiu Jiamin Belgees Boufana Maiza Campos-Ponce Paul R Torgerson Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
The diagnosis of canine echinococcosis can be a challenge in surveillance studies because there is no perfect gold standard that can be used routinely. However, unknown test specificities and sensitivities can be overcome using latent-class analysis with appropriate data.We utilised a set of faecal and purge samples used previously to explore the epidemiology of canine echinococcosis on the Tibetan plateau. Previously only the purge results were reported and analysed in a largely deterministic way. In the present study, additional diagnostic tests of copro-PCR and copro-antigen ELISA were undertaken on the faecal samples. This enabled a Bayesian analysis in a latent-class model to examine the diagnostic performance of a genus specific copro-antigen ELISA, species-specific copro-PCR and arecoline purgation. Potential covariates including co-infection with Taenia, age and sex of the dog were also explored. The dependence structure of these diagnostic tests could also be analysed.The most parsimonious result, indicated by deviance-information criteria, suggested that co-infection with Taenia spp. was a significant covariate with the Echinococcus infection. The copro-PCRs had estimated sensitivities of 89% and 84% respectively for the diagnoses of Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus. The specificities for the copro-PCR were estimated at 93 and 83% respectively. Copro-antigen ELISA had sensitivities of 55 and 57% for the diagnosis of E. multilocularis and E. granulosus and specificities of 71 and 69% respectively. Arecoline purgation with an assumed specificity of 100% had estimated sensitivities of 76% and 85% respectively.This study also shows that incorporating diagnostic uncertainty, in other words assuming no perfect gold standard, and including potential covariates like sex or Taenia co-infection into the epidemiological analysis may give different results than if the diagnosis of infection status is assumed to be deterministic and this approach should therefore be used whenever possible. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sonja Hartnack Christine M Budke Philip S Craig Qiu Jiamin Belgees Boufana Maiza Campos-Ponce Paul R Torgerson |
author_facet |
Sonja Hartnack Christine M Budke Philip S Craig Qiu Jiamin Belgees Boufana Maiza Campos-Ponce Paul R Torgerson |
author_sort |
Sonja Hartnack |
title |
Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. |
title_short |
Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. |
title_full |
Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. |
title_fullStr |
Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for Echinococcus infections in dogs. |
title_sort |
latent-class methods to evaluate diagnostics tests for echinococcus infections in dogs. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002068 https://doaj.org/article/59dc5ed141f44fb0a6ca1935cb67156b |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 7, Iss 2, p e2068 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3573084?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002068 https://doaj.org/article/59dc5ed141f44fb0a6ca1935cb67156b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002068 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
7 |
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2 |
container_start_page |
e2068 |
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1766345666493153280 |