A test to detect prostate cancer in men has a specificity of 80%. This means that
A) 80% of the men who test positive will actually have prostate cancer.
B) 80% of the men with prostate cancer will test positive.
C) 80% of the men who do not have prostate cancer will test negative.
D) 80% of the men who test negative will actually not have prostate cancer.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Specificity is the proportion of true negatives (people without the disease) who are correctly identified as not having the disease. Therefore, if a test has a specificity of 80%, it means that 80% of the men who do not have prostate cancer will correctly test negative for it.

A Test to Detect Prostate Cancer in Men Has a Specificity