Understanding Type I and Type II Errors in Heart Attack Diagnosis

A patient came to the hospital complaining of chest pain.

The doctors reviewed the ECG and said, "It could be a Heart attack, let's admit him."

Later tests revealed that it was not a heart attack, but just acidity.

This is a Type I error (False Positive) — suspecting disease when the patient is actually not sick.

But consider if the doctors had said, "Nothing wrong, go home," and it actually was a heart attack...

That would be a Type II error (False Negative) — failing to detect disease when it is present.

Clinical rule: If there is suspicion of a Heart attack, Type I error is acceptable, but Type II error is not.

(Source: Internet image; statistics books can be complex, but this photo clearly explains Type I and Type II errors.)

Dr. Ravindra L Kulkarni MD DNB FSCAI Cardiology

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