Peer Reviewed
Forum

Sensitivity, specificity and a used car salesman: which one should you trust?

Sally Murray
Abstract
Almost daily, GPs are confronted with decisions about initiating tests or interpreting test results. Making decisions in this setting requires understanding the characteristics of the tests as well as the population in which the tests are being used.
Key Points

    Tests may be very good at detecting disease or, alternatively, they may be good at excluding disease. The value of a test depends also on how common the disease is in a population. The best screening test in the world for prostate cancer is not of much use in most women!

Get full access
Subscribe for full access to all articles
Buy this article

Single article purchases are temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance.

If you would like to purchase an article during this time, please email us at [email protected] with the article details and we'll assist you directly. We'll also let you know when online purchasing is available again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Already a subscriber?