Research in Practice 03 - How study results and uncertainty vary
This authentic coupled forest plot from a previously completed diagnostic-accuracy review displays nine sensitivity and specificity estimates with 95% confidence intervals. It also retains each study's TP, FP, FN and TN counts.
Sensitivity ranges from 0.88 to 1.00, while specificity ranges from 0.12 to 0.92. Sensitivity clusters near the upper end of the scale, but specificity varies much more widely. The horizontal lines show the uncertainty around each estimate.
This is not a league table. Differences may reflect thresholds, case mix, sampling, verification and study design.
The forest plot shows study-level variation. The next post uses an HSROC plot to interpret sensitivity and specificity together.
August 10, 2026 5
