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CDC instruction/quiz for HIV test interpretation |
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CDC instruction for HIV test interpretation [attached]
Note – Hiv tests are neither specific or standardized. Results are "interpreted for risk group", above and below a "cutoff value." How is that value established? The method, says the CDC, is "somewhat arbitrary." From the document:
- “Establishing the cutoff value to define a positive test result from a negative one is somewhat arbitrary. Suppose that the test manufacturer initially considered that optical density ratios greater than “A” on the above figure would be called positive.
- Where might the blood bank director and the head of drug treatment want the cutoff point to be for each program? Who would probably want a lower cutoff value?”
This raises the queston: If you have ever been given one of these tests, were you asked where you would "want your cutoff value to be?"
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The NIH Investigation 