A scientist designed a medical test for a certain disease. Among 100 patients wh

Question

A scientist designed a medical test for a certain disease. Among 100 patients who have the disease, the test will show the presence of the disease in 97 cases out of 100, and will fail to show the presence of the disease in the remaining 3 cases out of 100. Among those who do not have the disease, the test will erroneously show the presence of the disease in 4 cases out of 100, and will show there is no disease in the remaining 96 out of 100.

What is the probability that a patient who tested positive on this test actually has the disease, if it is estimated that 20% of the population has the disease?

What is the probability that a patient who tested negative on this test actually does not have the disease, if is estimated that 4% of the population has the disease?

Explanation / Answer

P(P|D) = 0.97
P(P'|D) = 0.03
P(P|D') = 0.04
P(P'|D') = 0.96

What is the probability that a patient who tested positive on this test actually has the disease

P(D) = 0.2
P(D') = 0.8

P(D|P) = P(P|D)*P(D)/(P(P|D)*P(D) + P(P|D')*P(D'))

P(D|P) = 0.97*0.2 / (0.97*0.2 + 0.04*0.8) = 0.8584

What is the probability that a patient who tested negative on this test actually does not have the disease

P(D) = 0.04
P(D') = 0.96

P(D'|P') = P(P'|D')*P(D')/(P(P'|D')*P(D') + P(P'|D)*P(D))

P(D'|P') = 0.96*0.96 / (0.96*0.96 + 0.03*0.04) = 0.9987

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