A screening test of known sensitivity and specificity is applied to two populations. The prevalence of the disease being screened for is 10% in population A and 1% in population B.... A screening test of known sensitivity and specificity is applied to two populations. The prevalence of the disease being screened for is 10% in population A and 1% in population B. Which of the following is true? A. The percentage of all positive tests that are false positives will be lower in population A than in population B B. The percentage of all negative tests that are false negatives will be lower in population A than in population B C. The specificity will be lower in population A than B D. The sensitivity will be lower in population A than B E. None of the above Read more

Understand the Problem

The question is asking us to analyze the performance of a screening test applied to different populations with varying disease prevalence. It specifically wants to determine the truth of various statements concerning false positives, false negatives, specificity, and sensitivity based on the prevalence of the disease in the two populations.

More Information

The positive predictive value (PPV) is higher in populations with a higher prevalence of the disease, meaning that false positives make up a smaller proportion of positive test results in such populations. This implies fewer false positives in population A, which has a higher prevalence (10%) compared to population B (1%).

Tips

A common mistake is confusing positive predictive value with specificity or sensitivity. Remember that PPV is more closely linked to the prevalence of the disease.

Sources

• Solved 8. A screening test of known sensitivity and | Chegg.com - chegg.com
• A screening test of known sensitivity and specificity is applied to two ... - homework.study.com
• Disease Screening - Statistics Teaching Tools - health.ny.gov