specificity

specificity
1. The condition or state of being specific, of having a fixed relation to a single cause or to a definite result; manifested in the relation of a disease to its pathogenic microorganism, of a reaction to a certain chemical union, or of an antibody to its antigen or the reverse. 2. In clinical pathology and medical screening, the proportion of individuals with negative test results for the disease that the test is intended to reveal, i.e., true negative results as a proportion of the total of true negative and false-positive results. Cf.:sensitivity (2).
- analytical s. freedom from interference by any element or compound other than the analyte.
- diagnostic s. the probability (P) that, given the absence of disease (D), a normal test result (T) excludes disease; i.e., P(T/D).
- relative s. the s. of a medical screening test as determined by comparison with the same type of test ( e.g., s. of a new serological test relative to s. of an established serological test).
- substrate s. the ability of an enzyme to recognize and bind its substrates, typically measured by the Vmax/Km or kcat/Km ratios.

* * *

spec·i·fic·i·ty .spes-ə-'fis-ət-ē n, pl -ties the quality or condition of being specific: as
a) the condition of being peculiar to a particular individual or group of organisms <host \specificity of a parasite>
b) the condition of participating in or catalyzing only one or a few chemical reactions <the \specificity of an enzyme>

* * *

n.
(in screening tests) see sensitivity.

* * *

spec·i·fic·i·ty (spes″ĭ-fisґĭ-te) 1. the quality or state of being specific. 2. the conditional probability that a person not having a disease will be correctly identified by a clinical test, i.e., the number of true negative results divided by the total number of those without the disease (which is the sum of the numbers of true negative plus false positive results). Cf. sensitivity and predictive value.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Specificity — may refer to: * Sensitivity and specificity are related concepts in statistics * A concept relating to Cascading Style Sheets * In linguistics, specificity is the distinction of whether the referent is identifiable or not. [ citation contribution …   Wikipedia

  • specificity — specificity. См. специфичность. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • specificity — index identity (individuality) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • specificity — (n.) 1876, from Fr. spécificité or else a native formation from SPECIFIC (Cf. specific) + ITY (Cf. ity) …   Etymology dictionary

  • specificity — [spes΄ə fis′ə tē] n. the fact, condition, or quality of being specific …   English World dictionary

  • specificity — noun 1. the quality of being specific rather than general (Freq. 7) add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion the specificity of the symptoms of the disease • Derivationally related forms: ↑specific • Hypernyms: ↑particularity, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • specificity — noun Date: 1875 the quality or condition of being specific: as a. the condition of being peculiar to a particular individual or group of organisms < host specificity of a parasite > b. the condition of participating in or catalyzing only one or a …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • specificity — /spɛsəˈfɪsəti/ (say spesuh fisuhtee) noun (plural specificities) 1. the quality or state of being specific; precision in detail: the specificity of a shopping list. 2. the condition of being specific to a particular individual or group of… …  

  • specificity — n. [L. species, kind] Condition of an individual or group of organisms being specific to a host, locale, etc; see host specificity …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • specificity — diagnostikos metodo specifiškumas statusas T sritis biomedicinos mokslai apibrėžtis Rodiklis, apibūdinantis diagnostikos metodo ↑tikslumą ir rodantis tikimybę, kad sveiko žmogaus tyrimo duomenys patvirtina, jog jis tikrai yra sveikas. Jis… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”