A highly sensitive screening test minimizes which type of error?

• A. False positives
• B. False negatives
• C. Both false positives and false negatives equally
• D. None of the above

Answer: (B)

A highly sensitive screening test reduces false negatives. Sensitivity measures how well the test identifies people who actually have the disease. When sensitivity is high, it captures most true cases, leaving fewer instances where someone with disease tests negative. These remaining misses are false negatives, so they’re minimized. In practice, increasing sensitivity can raise false positives, since the test may also flag more people without disease as positive. That’s why screening often uses a two-step approach: a very sensitive initial test to catch as many cases as possible, followed by a more specific test to confirm and reduce false positives. The option about minimizing false positives isn’t correct because that’s driven by specificity, not sensitivity.