Premium
Estimating transmission probabilities for chlamydial infection
Author(s) -
Katz Barry P.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/sim.4780110502
Subject(s) - estimator , statistics , transmission (telecommunications) , variance (accounting) , identification (biology) , estimation , econometrics , chlamydial infection , sexual transmission , computer science , medicine , chlamydia trachomatis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , biology , virology , mathematics , telecommunications , botany , accounting , management , microbicide , economics , business
Estimates of transmission probabilities for sexually transmitted diseases historically come from studies of uninfected individuals exposed to those with a high disease prevalence (for example, prostitutes). However, changes in sexual behaviour, much of which relates to concerns about AIDS, has made identification of populations suitable for such studies extremely difficult. This paper presents a method for estimating these probabilities that utilizes a deterministic model and routinely collected data available in many clinics. Variance estimates for the estimators are also derived. Data for chlamydial infection and sensitivity analyses for the input parameters and assumptions illustrate the method.