What Was the Accuracy of HIV Testing for Marriage Licenses in Illinois in 1988?

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SUMMARY

In 1988, Illinois mandated HIV testing for marriage licenses, utilizing the ELISA and Western Blot tests. The ELISA test had a 95% true positive rate for HIV-positive individuals and a 99% false positive rate for HIV-negative individuals. The Western Blot test confirmed HIV status with a 99% true positive rate and a 5% false positive rate. Given that only 1% of applicants were HIV positive, the conditional probability of being HIV positive after testing positive on both tests is significantly low, highlighting the challenges of interpreting medical test results in low-prevalence scenarios.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of ELISA and Western Blot testing methodologies
  • Knowledge of conditional probability and Bayes' theorem
  • Familiarity with statistical significance in medical testing
  • Basic concepts of HIV transmission and prevalence rates
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the application of Bayes' theorem in medical diagnostics
  • Explore the accuracy and reliability of HIV testing methods
  • Investigate the historical context of HIV testing regulations
  • Learn about the implications of false positives in medical testing
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Public health officials, epidemiologists, medical professionals, and anyone interested in the historical context and statistical analysis of HIV testing practices.

Darth Frodo
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Homework Statement



In 1988, the state of Illinois required HIV testing for a couple to obtain a marriage
license. The HIV testing at the time consisted of two separate tests, the ELISA
test and the Western Blot test. The Elisa test was signi cantly less expensive. A
person who is HIV positive would test positive under the ELISA test 95% of the
time. A person who is HIV negative would test positive under the ELISA test 99%
of the time. In 1988, it was estimated that the percentage of people applying
for a marriage license that were actually HIV positive was 1%.

If someone test positive on the ELISHA test, then that person is given the West-
ern Blot test. A person who is HIV positive will test positive on the Western
Blot test 99% of the time, while a person who is HIV negative will test positive
on the Western Blot test 5% of the time. What is the conditional probability that someone is HIV positive given that the person tests positive on both the Western Blot and the ELISHA test?



The Attempt at a Solution



Basically I drew a tree diagram to figure this out, but it seems very low. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me where I'm going wrong.

If anyone has any questions on notation, please ask
 

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Darth Frodo said:
A person who is HIV negative would test positive under the ELISA test 99%
I think this should be "negative" (or 1% instead of 99%), otherwise the test would be very strange.
While this should change your result to a larger value, small probabilities to have some rare disease are not uncommon in medical tests in general.
 
Yes, I think you're right. I completely misread the question. Although, I think my confusion is rather valid.
 

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