6.4. A Primer on Sensitivity and Specificity

You’ve likely heard the terms ‘false positive’ and ‘false negative.’ But understanding how to use screening tools most effectively requires going a level deeper. Here we explain sensitivity and specificity, and discuss how knowing something about the prevalence of a disease can allow you to calculate both the positive- and negative-predictive value of a diagnostic test. These concepts are necessary to understand the tradeoffs inherent in diagnostic tests, as well as to properly interpret what a diagnostic test means.

Additional Resources

Dive Deeper