Patients often undergo a series of diagnostic tests during the course of an evaluation.
Computing the probability of disease depending on the results of 5 diagnostic tests can be a tedious task using the sensitivity and specificity method. You must take the posttest probability calculated from test 1 and plug it into the pretest probability for test 2 and so on until all five test results have been included in the analysis. Example 4 - Exercise thallium scintigraphy Consider a simple example with only two tests done in series. It is not a good idea to lump all the positive results together when computing posttest probability. Use the calculator below to check your work.