You screen a patient in a low prevalence (<2%) population for cancer using a highly sensitive test (99%) and the test result comes back negative. Is this test result more likely to be a true negative or a false negative?
This test result is more likely to be a true negative. Please see image 3/3 for the explanation.
You test a patient in a high prevalence (>50%) population for cancer using a highly specific test (99%) and the test result comes back positive. Is this test result more likely to be a true positive or a false positive?
This test result is more likely to be a true positive. Please see image 2/3 for the explanation.
This brief visual tutorial is intended to provide an intuitive understanding of diagnostic test sensitivity and specificity. Make sure to cement your knowledge of this difficult material by answering the 2 quiz questions!