The short version
- High sensitivity means fewer missed cases of the target.
- High specificity means fewer false alarms.
- No test is perfect on both for every situation.
01Trade-offs
Designers balance the two. A very sensitive test may flag more uncertain results.
02Why papers report them
Readers need to know how trustworthy a lab measure is before trusting conclusions built on it.
03Context matters
The same test can perform differently in different populations.
04Questions to ask
Ask which assay a study uses and whether results are confirmed with a second method.
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