Spetsiifilisust

Spetsiifilisust is a term used in several fields to describe the degree to which a method, observation, or statement is tied to a particular target or category rather than to others. It denotes selectivity, precision, or a narrow scope, depending on the context.

In medicine and diagnostics, specificity measures how well a test identifies individuals who do not have a condition. It is calculated as the number of true negatives divided by the sum of true negatives and false positives. A high specificity means few false positives, reducing the chance of mislabeling healthy people as diseased. Specificity is commonly discussed alongside sensitivity, which gauges true positive rate.

In chemistry and pharmacology, specificity describes the preference of a chemical reaction, enzyme, or drug for a particular substrate or target over others. High specificity reduces off-target effects and improves safety and efficacy. For example, an enzyme with high substrate specificity catalyzes a single reaction among many possible substrates.

In linguistics and information science, specificity can refer to how precisely a term or statement identifies a referent or class. It affects clarity, disambiguation, and information content. For classifiers and retrieval systems, higher specificity often improves relevance but may reduce coverage.

Assessing spetsiifilisust involves comparing observations with appropriate standards, controls, or known targets. It is a complementary concept to broadness or sensitivity, and its interpretation depends on the domain and the specific measurement goals.

See also: sensitivity, accuracy, selectivity, specificity in statistics and pharmacology.