Question:medium
A screening test applied to detect diabetes in population over 40 years of age should satisfy the following criteria, EXCEPT for
A screening test applied to detect diabetes in population over 40 years of age should satisfy the following criteria, EXCEPT for
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Recall the standard checklist for a good screening test: validity, reliability, and feasibility; one option here is not on that list at all.
Updated On: Jul 7, 2026
- Validity
- Reproducibility
- Feasibility
- Ingenuity
Show Solution
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Before a screening test is rolled out over a large group of people, like everyone above 40 years for diabetes, public health practice checks it against a fixed checklist of properties. This question gives four words and asks which one is not really on that checklist.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The accepted checklist has three main parts: validity (the test correctly separates true cases from healthy people, built from sensitivity and specificity), reliability or reproducibility (repeat testing gives the same result), and feasibility (the test is cheap, safe, simple, and something people will actually agree to undergo in large numbers).
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Validity is listed first in every textbook checklist for screening criteria, so it clearly belongs there.
Reproducibility matters because an unreliable test that changes its answer on repeat use cannot be trusted to screen a whole population consistently.
Feasibility is what makes mass screening practical at all; a test that is too costly, too invasive, or too slow will never be used on this scale, so it too belongs on the checklist.
Ingenuity, meaning how original or inventive the test method is, has never been part of this checklist. A screening test is judged only on whether it correctly and reliably flags likely cases at a cost the health system can afford, not on how clever its design is.
Step 4: Final Answer:
\[ \boxed{\text{Ingenuity}} \]
Before a screening test is rolled out over a large group of people, like everyone above 40 years for diabetes, public health practice checks it against a fixed checklist of properties. This question gives four words and asks which one is not really on that checklist.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The accepted checklist has three main parts: validity (the test correctly separates true cases from healthy people, built from sensitivity and specificity), reliability or reproducibility (repeat testing gives the same result), and feasibility (the test is cheap, safe, simple, and something people will actually agree to undergo in large numbers).
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Validity is listed first in every textbook checklist for screening criteria, so it clearly belongs there.
Reproducibility matters because an unreliable test that changes its answer on repeat use cannot be trusted to screen a whole population consistently.
Feasibility is what makes mass screening practical at all; a test that is too costly, too invasive, or too slow will never be used on this scale, so it too belongs on the checklist.
Ingenuity, meaning how original or inventive the test method is, has never been part of this checklist. A screening test is judged only on whether it correctly and reliably flags likely cases at a cost the health system can afford, not on how clever its design is.
Step 4: Final Answer:
\[ \boxed{\text{Ingenuity}} \]
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