Ideal screening test should be

The criteria for screening are based on two consideration : Disease to be screened, and Screening test to be applied. A) Disease to be screened The disease should be an important health problem with a recognizable latent or asymptomatic stage. There should be a test (screening test) which can detect the disease prior to clinical stage, with also availability of a diagnostic (confirmatory) test. There should be an effective treatment which should reduce morbidity and mortality if started early. B) Screening test to be applied The screening test to be applied should fulfil following criteria 1) Acceptibility The test should be acceptable to the people whom it is aimed. 2) Repeatability (reliability) The test must give consistent results when it is repeated more than once on the same individual under same condition, i.e. results of test must by precise (exact). Thus, repeatability is also known as precision, reliability or reproducibility. 3) Validity (accuracy) It refers to what extent the test accurately measures which is purports to measure. Validity has two componens : i) Sensitivity ii) Specificity. A test should have high sensitivity and specificity