Question

A screening test applied to detect diabetes in a population over 40 years of age should satisfy all of the following criteria, EXCEPT

• A. Validity
• B. Reproducibility
• C. Feasibility
• D. Ingenuity

Hint:

Three of the options are textbook screening test criteria; one is simply not a recognized criterion at all.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Screening tests are judged against a short, well known checklist. Let's go through each option against that checklist.

1. Validity: this checks whether the test truly separates diseased people from healthy people, using sensitivity and specificity. It is a core requirement of any screening test.
2. Reproducibility: this checks that the test gives the same result when repeated. Without this, no one can trust a single test run, so it is also a required property.
3. Feasibility: this checks whether the test can actually be run on a large population with the money, staff, and equipment on hand. It is a standard, accepted requirement in every screening programme, including diabetes screening.
4. Ingenuity: this simply means cleverness of design. It is not part of the standard checklist used to judge screening tests anywhere in public health teaching.

Since validity, reproducibility, and feasibility are all genuine, accepted criteria, the one term left out, ingenuity, is the correct answer to this EXCEPT question.

Let's summarize:

• Validity, reproducibility, and feasibility are all real, standard criteria for a screening test.
• Ingenuity is not a recognized criterion at all.

So the property a diabetes screening test need not satisfy is ingenuity.