Authors
Abstract
Medical researchers may be interested in disease processes that are not
directly observable. Imperfect diagnostic tests may be used repeatedly to
monitor the condition of a patient in the absence of a gold standard. We
consider parameter identifiability and estimability in a Markov model for
alternating binary longitudinal responses that may be misclassified. Exactly
two distinct sets of parameter values are shown to generate the distribution
for the data in a common situation and we propose a restriction to
distinguishes the two. Even with the restriction, parameters may not be
estimable. Issues of sampling and correct model specification are discussed.
Keywords