This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

False positives and negatives

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

False positive screening tests indicate incorrectly that healthy people have a disease. False negative tests falsely reassure some people who have the disease that they are healthy.

A test with poor sensitivity will produce more false negatives and miss more disease while a test with poor specificity will produce more false positives and label more healthy people as diseased.


Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.