Epidemiology Part 2

We are exploring sensitivity and specificity this week. This can let you know the limitations of a test for a disease. More and more labs, hospitals, and public health agencies are moving to molecular methods to test for disease, but often for screening tests we use test like EIA or other rapid immunogenic tests.

Your goal:

Select a disease

Find the prevalence of that disease in the US
Find a screening test for that disease and the manufacturer’s reported sensitivity and specificity
Apply that proportion to a random population of 100,000 people
Calculate the predictive positive value and the predictive negative value
Answer the question: Does it make sense to screen for this disease using this test and based on the natural history of the disease why or why not?

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Solution Preview

Lung cancer

Find the prevalence of that disease in the US

In 2015, the most recent year for which rate information is accessible, 218,527 new instances of Lung and Bronchus growth were accounted for, and 153,718 individuals kicked the bucket of Lung and Bronchus a tumour in the United States.

(473 words)