Hey eli5,
I’ve been an RRT for eight years, and I feel like I’m strong clinically; but one thing I’ve struggled with is the concepts of Sensitivity and Specificity. I’ve gargled this time and time again and it never sinks in. I’d like to advance my education but it feels like if I can’t get this why try?
tl;dr Can someone help me cement the concepts of Sensitivity and Specificity by explaining it like I’m 5??
Thank you
In: 2
Suppose you get a dog, to bark at burglars.
A sensitive dog – a dog with sensitivity – will bark at every burglar. A less sensitive dog might bark, or might just sleep through the burglary.
A dog with specificity will *only* bark at burglars. A less specific dog might bark at other things too.
With a given testing technology, there’s usually a tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity: for example, dogs are usually either sensitive but not specific (they bark at burglars, but also Amazon delivery people, cats, leaves, passing cyclists, family members…), or they are specific but not sensitive (they basically don’t bark at anything much. They *might* bark at strangers sneaking through a window at night, but there’s no guarantee)
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