Diagnosis and Prediction

This volume contains refereed papers submitted by participants of the third week of a six week workshop on Statistics in the Health Sciences held by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications in Minneapo lis, Minnesota during July of 1997. This week was devoted to the close ly related topics of Diagnosis and Prediction. Theoretical and applied statisticians from universities, medical and public health schools, g overnment and private research institutions, and pharmaceutical compan ies involved in prediction problems in the life and social sciences an d in diagnostic and screening tests were brought together to discuss a nd exchange new results and information on these important issues. A n umber of papers with applications were presented and especially lively discussions ensued involving the critical issues and difficulties in using and interpreting diagnostic tests and implementing mass screenin g programs. Both frequentist and Bayesian approaches were employed.