Eli5: How do false positives occur on medical tests?

Question

Eli5: How do false positives occur on medical tests?

In: Other

Answer 1

False positives can occur when the test itself is poorly constructed, administered at the wrong time, or if the clinician misreads the results of the test (orthopaedics).

Answer 2

False positives can happen for any number of reasons but it is important to understand that they are UNAVOIDABLE. Every test comes with some statistical analysis of how effective it is and what it’s false positive rate is.