Question:medium

A new screening test is applied. It yields 90 true positives and 50 false positives. What is the positive predictive value (PPV) of the test?

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PPV = true positives ÷ all who tested positive (TP + FP).
Updated On: Jun 25, 2026
  • 64.3%
  • 90%
  • 50%
  • 35.7%
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Positive predictive value answers a clinically practical question: given a positive test, how likely is real disease? It is therefore computed down the column of everyone the test labelled positive. The positive column here contains two kinds of people: the genuinely diseased who tested positive (true positives, $TP = 90$) and the disease-free who were wrongly flagged (false positives, $FP = 50$). The denominator is every positive result, $TP + FP = 140$. Applying the definition: \[ PPV = \frac{TP}{TP+FP} = \frac{90}{140} \approx 0.643 \] Expressed as a percentage this is about $64.3\%$. In words, roughly two-thirds of positive results are correct and one-third are false alarms. Note that PPV depends on disease prevalence, unlike sensitivity and specificity; in a low-prevalence population the same test would yield a lower PPV because false positives would dominate. \[\boxed{PPV \approx 64.3\%}\]
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