Specificity

True negative rate

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Negative predictive value reflect the proportion of positive and negative results that are true negatives¹. NPV answers the question: “if I have a negative test, what is the probability that I actually don’t have the disease?”¹

Clinical Significance

One should use specificity (and sensitivity) as a way to assess the performance of a diagnostic test¹. To predict whether a particular person will truly have the disease based on a positive or negative test result, one should use Positive predicitve value (PPV) and Negative predictive value (NPV)¹.

References

1.

Monaghan TF, Rahman SN, Agudelo CW, et al. Foundational Statistical Principles in Medical Research: Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Value, and Negative Predictive Value. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). 2021;57(5):503. doi:10.3390/medicina57050503