Specificity

specificity /spec·i·fic·i·ty/ (spes?i-fis´i-te)

1. the quality or state of being specific.

2. the probability that a person who does not have a disease will be correctly identified by a clinical test.

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spec·i·fic·i·ty (sps-fs-t)

n.

1. The condition or state of being specific.

2. The statistical probability that an individual who does not have the particular disease being tested for will be correctly identified as negative, expressed as the proportion of true negative results to the total of true negative and false positive results.

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Specificity

A test's ability to detect only the disease in question.

Mentioned in: Tumor Markers

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specificity

the quality of having a certain action, as of affecting only certain organisms or tissues, or reacting only with certain substances, as antibodies with certain antigens (antigen specificity).

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drug specificity

the degree to which the effects of a drug are due to the one pharmacological action.

host specificity

the restricted infectivity of a particular parasite to a certain species or group of hosts.

test specificity

the probability of a test correctly identifying those patients which are not infected or which do not have the specified condition. A fundamental parameter of any diagnostic test. See also sensitivity.