Quote (NetflixAdaptationWidow @ 4 Sep 2021 08:34)
Not necessarily, since you're already pre-screening people before you even give them the test, and even if you have a negative test a good doctor might reject the negative test if you can rule out other causes with similar symptoms.
It's also unfortunate that false positives can result in more harm than false negatives, but the perception is that false negatives are worse. For instance there's some legitimate concern over breast cancer screenings for women finding false positives and requiring biopsies, or identifying masses that will never metastasize and resulting in treatment. Over-diagnosis is an often overlooked problem that causes real issues. Over-treatment as well since you get money for treating things. Although that tends to be a problem in places like nursing homes and places that can easily bill medicare/medicaid and have patients who won't easily object.
I was thinking about tests for infectious diseases, covid, hiv and stuff like that. But even when it comes to cancer, a false negative will in most cases have worse consequences than a false positive. Get a false negative and chances are the damn thing is already metastasized by the time the mistake is finally realized.
So while situations exist in which false positives cause as much or even more harm than false negatives, that's not the norm. It really depends on what you're trying to achieve with a diagnostic test, screening or confirmation.
In the specific case of covid tests, there is NO pre-screening whenever a group has to be tested regularly independent from potential symptoms, which is what most countries do in their schools, nursing homes and some other workplaces. Or when tests are required for an unvaccinated person to gain access to a venue, say a stadium or indoor dining. In these cases, a false negative can have consequences magnitudes worse than a false positive (triggering a chain of infection which can be hundreds of cases strong by the time it's detected versus sending a single person into quarantine for 2-10 days).