Screening

Using a brief assessment to identify people who may benefit from further evaluation — not to diagnose.

Screening, in assessment, is using a brief instrument to identify people who may benefit from a more thorough evaluation. Screening tools are designed to be fast and broadly applicable; they trade some accuracy for accessibility, and they're never meant to be diagnostic on their own.

A positive screen is a starting point, not a conclusion. Screening is most useful when followed by a structured assessment — or a clinician — that can determine whether the person actually meets criteria for whatever the screener flagged. The opposite is diagnostic assessment: longer, more accurate instruments administered by qualified professionals to people already flagged.

Sensitivity — The proportion of true cases that an assessment correctly identifies — also called the true positive rate.
Specificity — The proportion of true non-cases that an assessment correctly identifies as negative — also called the true negative rate.
Cutoff score — A specific value on an assessment used to classify respondents into categories. Not a diagnosis.

Screening

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