Diagnosing allergy is a subject that is very
commonly misunderstood. One of the commonest misunderstandings concerns the
role of blood tests in managing allergies. When considering the use of medical
tests, there are several pertinent questions that need to be answered.
l How sensitive is the test ? In other words, what percentage of
patients with the disease will the test identify ?
l How specific is the test ? That means, what percentage of patients
without the disease will the test exclude ?
l What is the positive predictive value ? That means, what
percentage of patients with a positive test result really has the disease ?
l What is the negative predictive value ? That means, what
percentage of patients with negative test result really does not have the
disease ?
And of course, the most important question: How
does the test result affect the management of the patient ?
Reference
information: www.allergy.hk/
The
information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should
consult physician before considering
treatment and should not rely on the information above.
No comments:
Post a Comment