What is a common consequence of low sensitivity?

What is a common consequence of low sensitivity?

• A. False negatives are rare; negative results are reliable.
• B. False negatives are common; negative results may be unreliable.
• C. False positives are common; negative results may be unreliable.
• D. Positive results are always reliable due to high specificity.

Answer: (B)

Low sensitivity means the test misses a lot of real cases. As a result, false negatives are common—people who actually have the condition test negative. Because many true positives slip through, a negative result cannot be trusted to rule out disease, so negative results may be unreliable. The takeaway is that a test with low sensitivity fails to catch many true positives, making negative results less dependable, especially in populations where the condition is more prevalent.

Low sensitivity means the test misses a lot of real cases. As a result, false negatives are common—people who actually have the condition test negative. Because many true positives slip through, a negative result cannot be trusted to rule out disease, so negative results may be unreliable. The takeaway is that a test with low sensitivity fails to catch many true positives, making negative results less dependable, especially in populations where the condition is more prevalent.