Sample interview questions: Can you explain the concept of sensitivity and specificity in diagnostic likelihood ratios?
Sample answer:
- Sensitivity:
- Sensitivity is the probability of a diagnostic test being positive when an individual has the disease.
- It measures the test’s ability to correctly identify individuals with the disease.
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A highly sensitive test will have a low false-negative rate, meaning it is less likely to miss cases of the disease.
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Specificity:
- Specificity is the probability of a diagnostic test being negative when an individual does not have the disease.
- It measures the test’s ability to correctly identify individuals without the disease.
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A highly specific test will have a low false-positive rate, meaning it is less likely to identify individuals as having the disease when they do not.
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Diagnostic Likelihood Ratios (DLRs):
- A diagnostic likelihood ratio (DLR) is a statistical measure that compares the likelihood of a test result in individuals with a disease to the likelihood of the same result in individuals without the disease.
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It is calculated by dividing the sensitivity of the test by its specificity.
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Interpretation of DLRs:
- A DLR greater than 1 indicates that a positive test result is more likely to occur in individuals with the disease than in individuals witho… Read full answer