What is sensitivity?

Sensitivity is the ability of a diagnostic test to correctly identify disease. For this clinical example, sensitivity is the ability of the physical examination to correctly identify thyroid enlargement. Remember, the ultrasound examination is the gold standard. So, in order to calculate sensitivity, you need to know the number of true positives identified by the test divided by all patients who have the disease.

  Ultrasound (gold standard) Total
  Enlarged (+) Not Enlarged (-)  
Physical Examination      
Enlarged (+) 30 20 50
Not Enlarged (-) 10 40 50
Total 40 60 100
IDevice Question Icon Multi-choice
Calculate the sensitivity of your physical exam. Which one of the following is correct?

  
30%
75%
40%
67%