High sensitivity in a test implies which of the following?

High sensitivity in a test implies which of the following?

• A. More false positives
• B. More true negatives
• C. More true positives and fewer false negatives
• D. Fewer true positives

Answer: (C)

High sensitivity means the test is very good at identifying people who actually have the condition. Because it misses few true cases, there are more true positives and fewer false negatives. This makes the test reliable for ruling out disease when the result is negative, and it’s especially valuable in screening where missing a case would be costly. The idea isn’t about creating lots of false alarms; that would reflect low specificity. So a test with high sensitivity doesn’t inherently produce more false positives. It also wouldn’t mean more true negatives, and it certainly isn’t about having fewer true positives.

High sensitivity means the test is very good at identifying people who actually have the condition. Because it misses few true cases, there are more true positives and fewer false negatives. This makes the test reliable for ruling out disease when the result is negative, and it’s especially valuable in screening where missing a case would be costly.

The idea isn’t about creating lots of false alarms; that would reflect low specificity. So a test with high sensitivity doesn’t inherently produce more false positives. It also wouldn’t mean more true negatives, and it certainly isn’t about having fewer true positives.