What is bivariate method for direct estimation of summary sensitivity and specificity?
The bivariate method is a diagnostic meta-analysis method used to estimate summary sensitivity and specificity for given tests. It uses logistic regression on the true positives, true negatives, false positives and false negatives reported in the studies and produces summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity that account for the correlation between the two statistics. Pooled sensitivity and specificity and their 95% CIs are reported in the clinical evidence summary tables.