First, I need to recall the formula for specificity. Specificity is the ability of a test to correctly identify those without the disease. The formula is True Negatives divided by (True Negatives + False Positives). From the table, when the disease is absent, the positive test results are 5 (false positives) and negative tests are 95 (true negatives). So, specificity would be 95/(95+5) = 95/100 = 0.95 or 95%.
Now, looking at the options, the correct answer is likely 95%, so the letter corresponding to that would be the right choice. The incorrect options might be other percentages calculated from different parts of the table, like sensitivity (which is TP/(TP+FN) = 40/50 = 80%) or positive predictive value, but since the question is about specificity, those other values are wrong.
I should also check the numbers again to make sure I didn't mix up the rows or columns. The table shows Disease Present and Disease Absent as rows, and Test Result as columns. So, for specificity, we focus on the Disease Absent row. True negatives are the negative tests here, which is 95, and false positives are the positive tests in that row, which is 5. So the calculation is correct.
The distractors might include sensitivity (80%), positive predictive value (which would be TP/(TP+FP) = 40/(40+5)= 89%), or negative predictive value (95/(10+95)= 90.5%). But specificity is clearly 95%.
**Core Concept**
Specificity measures a diagnostic test's ability to correctly identify individuals without the disease (true negative rate). It is calculated as **True Negatives / (True Negatives + False Positives)**. This metric is critical for evaluating test performance in disease exclusion.
**Why the Correct Answer is Right**
From the table:
- **True Negatives (TN)** = 95 (negative test, disease absent).
- **False Positives (FP)** = 5 (positive test, disease absent).
Specificity = **95 / (95 + 5) = 95/100 = 0.95 (95%)**. This means 95% of disease-free individuals are correctly identified as negative by the test.
**Why Each Wrong Option is Incorrect**
**Option A:** Likely represents sensitivity (40/50 = 80%). Sensitivity measures true positive rate, not specificity.
**Option B:** May reflect positive predictive value (40/45 β 89%). This calculates the probability of disease given a positive test, not specificity.
**Option C:** Could be negative predictive value (95/105 β 90.5%). This assesses the probability of no disease given a negative test, not specificity.
**Clinical Pearl / High-Yield Fact**
Remember the **2x2 table layout**:
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