SpPin

Specificity Positive in. A term of art referring to a clinical sign/test with a high specificity, a positive result of which rules in the diagnosis—e.g., the specificity of fluid wave for diagnosing ascites is 92%, therefore, the finding of a fluid wave makes ascites highly likely.

References in periodicals archive ?

Ruling a diagnosis in or out with "SpPIn" and "SnNOut": A note of caution.

Infants with delirium: a primer on prevention, recognition, and management

In many situations, however, the direct handling of LIZ and probabilities may be unfeasible or even risky (26-29), and the gray zone approach may help decision-makers in practice, as do the "SpPIn" and "SnNOut" rules (1) when they are wisely and critically applied (30).

A gray zone assigned to inconclusive results of quantitative diagnostic tests: application to the use of brain natriuretic peptide for diagnosis of heart failure in acute dyspneic patients

This is because specific IgE testing is very sensitive and, to recall SnOUT and SpPIN, a SeNsitive test, when Negative, rules a disease OUT.

Introduction

I notice that Sackett and Haines continue to use the McMaster mnemonics of "SnNout" (rule out a diagnosis using the high sensitivity of a test) and "SpPin" (rule in a diagnosis using the high specificity of a test), but I have found, while teaching first-year medical students on two continents, that if the definitions of sensitivity and specificity are clearly understood, there is no need for these mnemonics and the significance and use of the terms of "rule in" and "rule out" are self-evident.