Test Interpretation and Statistics

Incidentaloma, cascade and overdiagnosis

A memory aid for the harms of testing and how to manage an incidental finding.

Nine conditions in the UK programme, taken at day 5

A memory aid for the conditions detected on the newborn blood spot.

NNT is the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction

A memory aid for absolute and relative risk and the number needed to treat.

A p value measures compatibility with the null hypothesis, not the size of an effect

A memory aid for what a p value does and does not tell you.

Predictive values answer the clinician's question but depend on prevalence

A memory aid for why the same test means different things in different populations.

Reference ranges are defined statistically, not clinically

A memory aid for why so many normal people have an abnormal test result.

The condition, the test, the treatment and the programme

A memory aid for the Wilson and Jungner criteria for screening.

SnNout and SpPin

A mnemonic for what sensitivity and specificity mean and when to use each.