Using logistic regression procedures for estimating receiver operating characteristic curves

Estimation of a receiver operating characteristic, ROC, curve is usually based either on a fully parametric model such as a normal model or on a fully nonparametric model. In this paper, we explore a semiparametric approach by assuming a density ratio model for disease and disease-free densities. This model has a natural connection with the logistic regression model. The proposed semiparametric approach is more robust than a fully parametric approach and is more efficient than a fully nonparametric approach. Two real examples demonstrate that the ROC curve estimated by our semiparametric method is much smoother than that estimated by the nonparametric method.