Sensitivity is the ability of a test to correctly identify individuals who indeed do have a particular disease or disorder. (A test with high sensitivity will produce few false-negative and many false-positive results.)
Where:
- True positive = the individual has the disease or illness; test results are positive
- False negative = the individual has the disease or illness; test results are negative
To determine sensitivity, use the following equation:
True Positives (TP)
Divided by True Positives (TP) plus False Negatives (FN)
Times 100
or
[TP ÷ (TP + FN)] x 100
The result will be a percentage.
