When individuals at risk of a condition are administered a diagnostic or screening test for a condition of interest, the negative predictive value (NPV) is the proportion of those who test negative who indeed do not have the condition (true negatives). This statistic is influenced both by the sensitivity and specificity of the test itself and the prevalence of the condition in those tested. The importance of NPV in economic modelling of diagnostic tests is that 1-NPV gives the proportion of those who are unlikely to receive further tests or an intervention who could have potentially benefited (false positives). In particular in the case of screening the reassurance of a negative test result may result in delayed diagnosis and treatment. NPV is closely related to positive predictive value (PPV).
How to cite: Negative Predictive Value [online]. (2016). York; York Health Economics Consortium; 2016. https://yhec.co.uk/glossary/negative-predictive-value/