Why is sensitivity important in a diagnostic test for TB?
High sensitivity helps to maximize the reliability of a test for TB, ensuring that the majority of infected people are identified. This is especially important with immunocompromised patients. A test with poor sensitivity will produce high numbers of false-negative results in people who truly have disease. These subjects will not be treated and so could convert to active TB disease. In the pivotal clinical study for the T-SPOT.TB test the sensitivity was determined to be 95.6%.
