Table 2.
Sensitivity and specificity of reported symptoms for diagnosing Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia among patients attending a peripheral health facility in Kabale District, SW Uganda
| Presenting symptoms | Parasitaemia Present (%): n = 750 | Parasitaemia Absent (%): n = 856 | P- value1 | Sensitivity (%) | Specificity (%) | Positive predictive value (%) | Negative predictive value (%) |
| Headache | 633 (84.4) | 685 (80.0) | P=0.02 | 84.4 | 20.0 | 48.0 | 59.5 |
| Joint pain | 586 (78.1) | 667 (77.9) | n.s. | 78.1 | 22.1 | 46.8 | 53.5 |
| History of fever | 579 (77.2) | 667 (77.9) | n.s. | 77.2 | 21.1 | 46.5 | 52.5 |
| Loss of appetite | 476 (63.5) | 526 (61.4) | n.s. | 63.5 | 38.6 | 47.5 | 54.6 |
| Vomiting | 426 (56.8) | 445 (52.0) | P = 0.02 | 56.8 | 48.0 | 48.9 | 55.9 |
| General weakness | 423 (56.4) | 452 (52.8) | n.s. | 56.4 | 47.2 | 48.3 | 55.3 |
| Rigors | 138 (18.4) | 133 (15.5) | P = 0.03 | 18.4 | 84.5 | 50.9 | 54.2 |
| Cough | 124 (16.5) | 195 (22.8) | P = 0.001 | 16.5 | 77.2 | 38.9 | 51.4 |
| Dizziness | 76 (10.1) | 112 (13.1) | P = 0.03 | 10.1 | 86.9 | 40.4 | 52.5 |
| Abdominal pain | 73 (9.7) | 75 (8.8) | n.s. | 9.7 | 91.2 | 49.3 | 53.6 |
| Backache | 35 (4.7) | 42 (4.9) | n.s. | 4.7 | 95.1 | 45.5 | 52.6 |
| Flu-like symptoms | 28 (3.7) | 30 (3.5) | n.s. | 3.7 | 96.5 | 48.3 | 53.4 |
1 χ2 values calculated using log likelihood, df = 1; n.s. not significant