sensitivity (definition)
Last reviewed 03/2022
The sensitivity of a test can be described as the proportion of true positives of the total number with the target disorder.
All patients with the target disorder is the sum of (detected) true positives (TP) and (undetected) false negatives (FN).
Target Disorder Present | Target Disorder Absent | |
Test result positive | True Positive (TP) | False Positive (FP) |
Test result negative | False Negative (FN) | True Negative (TN) |
Sensitivity is therefore:
- TP / (TP + FN) x 100%