Statistical Decision Theory Application in Pain Assessment
Synonyms
Decision Theory; thresholds; pain; sensory decision theory; pain memory
Definition
This article reviews recent developments in the application of the statistical decision making model (SDM) to problems in pain perception, pain report bias, pain memory and questionnaire construction as well as diagnosis and treatment outcomes. More generally, it applies to decisions made on the basis of evidence that is less than perfect. The general model quantifies correct decisions (hits and correct rejections) and incorrect decisions (misses and false affirmatives) concerning two objectively definable but confusable events A and B (Table 1). SDM determines two variables, the discrimination parameter quantifies the decision maker's ability to distinguish Event A from Event B, independently of response bias, while the criterion parameter quantifies response bias, the decision maker's tendency to favor, consciously or unconsciously, the reporting of one event over the other. Depending upon its...
References
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