Test Sensitivity Measure
A Test Sensitivity Measure is a sensitivity measure for a test.
- AKA: Test's True Positive Success Rate.
- Example(s):
- a Medical Test Sensitivity (of a medical test).
- ...
- See: Gold Standard (Test), Medical Screening.
References
2022
- (Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitivity_and_specificity Retrieved:2022-1-13.
- Sensitivity and specificity mathematically describe the accuracy of a test which reports the presence or absence of a condition, in comparison to a ‘Gold Standard’ or definition.
- Sensitivity (True Positive Rate) refers to the proportion of those who have the condition (when judged by the ‘Gold Standard’) that received a positive result on this test.
- Specificity (True Negative Rate) refers to the proportion of those who do not have the condition (when judged by the ‘Gold Standard’) that received a negative result on this test.
- In a diagnostic test, sensitivity is a measure of how well a test can identify true positives and specificity is a measure of how well a test can identify true negatives. For all testing, both diagnostic and screening, there is usually a trade-off between sensitivity and specificity, such that higher sensitivities will mean lower specificities and vice versa.
If the goal of the test is to identify everyone who has a condition, the number of false negatives should be low, which requires high sensitivity. That is, people who have the condition should be highly likely to be identified as such by the test. This is especially important when the consequence of failing to treat the condition are serious and/or the treatment is very effective and has minimal side effects.
If the goal of the test is to accurately identify people who do not have the condition, the number of false positives should be very low, which requires a high specificity. That is, people who do not have the condition should be highly likely to be excluded by the test. This is especially important when people who are identified as having a condition may be subjected to more testing, expense, stigma, anxiety, etc.
The terms "sensitivity" and "specificity" were introduced by American biostatistician Jacob Yerushalmy in 1947.
- Sensitivity and specificity mathematically describe the accuracy of a test which reports the presence or absence of a condition, in comparison to a ‘Gold Standard’ or definition.