Question 2706
{"accessible":false,"alternatives":[{"id":13233,"text":"increases"},{"id":13234,"text":"decreases"},{"id":13235,"text":"stays the same"},{"id":13236,"text":"may increase or decrease"}],"archived":false,"correctAlternativeId":13235,"explanation":"\u003cp\u003eClassic teaching is that sensitivity is an inherent characteristic of a diagnostic test and is unaffected by prevalence: this is assumed in many of the commonly applied statistical calculations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt should be noted, however, that observational data suggests that this is not always true.\u003c/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeeflang M, Rutjes A, Reitsma J, Hooft L, Bossuyt P. Variation of a Test's Sensitivity and Specificity with Disease Prevalence. CMAJ. 2013;185(11):E537-44. \u003ca href=\"https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.121286%22\u003edoi:10.1503/cmaj.121286\u003c/a\u003e\"\u003edoi:10.1503/cmaj.121286\u003c/a\u003e - \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23798453%22\u003ePubmed\u003c/a\u003e\"\u003ePubmed\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e","id":2706,"imageUrl":null,"imageAttribution":null,"imageAttributionCaseInfo":null,"firstQuestionPath":"/questions/2885","nextQuestionPath":"/articles/prevalence/questions/2705","relatedArticles":[{"id":34845,"title":"Sensitivity and specificity","link":"/articles/sensitivity-and-specificity?lang=us"}],"alsoUsedIn":[{"id":1770,"kind":"Course","title":"Papa \u0026 Papa Bear's Medical Statistics Short Course - page 1770","link":"https://radiopaedia.org/courses/medical-statistics-short-course/pages/1770"}],"stem":"\u003cp\u003eAs prevalence decreases, what happens to sensitivity?\u003c/p\u003e","menuLinks":[{"text":"Report problem with question","url":"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfO3soWYhOjJ7yErSysyCe5V4A1CqW7WK3rDA7MtAkecMGqNw/viewform?entry.1624461248\u0026entry.553583435=https://radiopaedia.org/questions/2706"}],"attemptsPercentages":[{"alternativeId":"13235","percentage":100},{"alternativeId":"13233","percentage":0},{"alternativeId":"13234","percentage":0},{"alternativeId":"13236","percentage":0}],"promptToLogin":false,"questionManager":false,"articleId":"prevalence"}