Why screening tests don’t work well...
01-09-2021, 07:40 PM
#1
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Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 11,483
Why screening tests don’t work well...
https://www.medmastery.com/guide/cov...vailable-tests
If you have someone at high risk - say an ICU worker or someone with typical symptoms - they actually work reasonably well. Somebody who feels well and just wants to go to Canada or Hawaii? Not so much. It isn’t the sensitivity or specificity that is the important thing, it’s the predictive value positive and negative which, yes, depend on sensitivity and specificity, but also on the prevalence of disease in the population.
If you have someone at high risk - say an ICU worker or someone with typical symptoms - they actually work reasonably well. Somebody who feels well and just wants to go to Canada or Hawaii? Not so much. It isn’t the sensitivity or specificity that is the important thing, it’s the predictive value positive and negative which, yes, depend on sensitivity and specificity, but also on the prevalence of disease in the population.
01-10-2021, 08:02 AM
#3
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Joined APC: Feb 2007
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Posts: 1,053
Originally Posted by Excargodog
https://www.medmastery.com/guide/cov...vailable-tests
If you have someone at high risk - say an ICU worker or someone with typical symptoms - they actually work reasonably well. Somebody who feels well and just wants to go to Canada or Hawaii? Not so much. It isn’t the sensitivity or specificity that is the important thing, it’s the predictive value positive and negative which, yes, depend on sensitivity and specificity, but also on the prevalence of disease in the population.
If you have someone at high risk - say an ICU worker or someone with typical symptoms - they actually work reasonably well. Somebody who feels well and just wants to go to Canada or Hawaii? Not so much. It isn’t the sensitivity or specificity that is the important thing, it’s the predictive value positive and negative which, yes, depend on sensitivity and specificity, but also on the prevalence of disease in the population.
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