False Positives

Imagine yourself in a situation where you have received the results of a blood test that indicates you have tested positive for HIV. During the next few weeks you go through feelings of depression, anger, sadness, and despair. You feel confused, and are uncertain of how life will be like from now on. Later, you receive the results of a second test that shows you have tested negative for the disease. You are angry at the physician for putting you through weeks of misery, and want to blame him for his inability to diagnose and lack of knowledge. However, physicians do not come to a final decision on their own. There is an inter-professional collaboration that exists between physicians, lab technologists, radiologists, and patients within the …show more content…
For instance, appendicitis is one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose. It is common knowledge among physicians that symptoms for appendicitis are similar to other diseases such as gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, and Crohn's disease. In addition, the pain is never specific in appendicitis, and the location of the appendix varies in individuals (Levine, et al. 792). Canders, et al point out that "an inflamed and dilated ureter may mimic appendicitis" from an ultrasound, and thereby lead to a false positive misdiagnosis of appendicitis (833). Furthermore, there can be technical display issues with the quality of the diagnostic images. Also, there have been situations where the position of the patient's body part or the angle of the imaging device produces possible overlapped images of the appendix and nearby organs. Similarly, when I take diagnostic radiographic images in my field of work, I often get overlapped results. This is caused by varying anatomies of dentition presented by patients, and with the angulation of the imaging device. Such circumstances can lead to a misleading visual assessment of the diagnostic image, which can contribute to a false positive test result, and lead to a misdiagnosis by the