Going into detail on what this term means and how it relates to health guidelines. This article may be incomplete.
A false negative occurs when a test result incorrectly indicates that a condition is not present, when it actually is. In medical testing, a false negative means that the test has not detected the disease or condition despite its presence. This can lead to a delay in diagnosis and treatment, potentially allowing the condition to worsen before it is properly identified. False negatives can occur for various reasons, such as issues with the testing procedure, sample collection, or the stage of the condition being tested for. It is important to consider the limitations of any medical test and to interpret results in conjunction with clinical symptoms and other diagnostic procedures to minimize the risk of false negatives.