A nurse is administering a tuberculosis skin test to a client who has AIDS. Which of the following results should the nurse anticipate when using this screening test?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Persons with immune deficiencies may have a negative tuberculosis skin test even though they are infected. Sensitivity is the extent to which a test identifies those individuals who have the condition being examined. AIDS is an acquired immune deficiency; thus, clients with AIDS may have a false-negative response to TB skin tests; that is, they have the disease but the test is not sensitive enough to detect infection in these individuals. Therefore, there is decreased sensitivity with those clients.

A Nurse Is Administering a Tuberculosis Skin Test to a Client