Optimal threshold using the correlation coefficient for the confusion matrix

Abstract

The optimal threshold estimation is considered in order to discriminate the mixture distribution in the fields of Biostatistics and credit evaluation. There exists well-known various accuracy measures that examine the discriminant power. Recently, Matthews correlation coefficient and the F1 statistic were studied to estimate optimal thresholds. In this study, we explore whether these accuracy measures are appropriate for the optimal threshold to discriminate the mixture distribution. It is found that some accuracy measures that depend on the sample size are not appropriate when two sample sizes are much different. Moreover, an alternative method for finding the optimal threshold is proposed using the correlation coefficient that defines the ratio of the confusion matrix, and the usefulness and utility of this method are also discusses.