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Screening Yield Calculator

Work out screening yield instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Screening Yield Calculator

Divides cases detected by people screened to give the screening yield, and inverts it to give the number needed to screen.

Formula

Screening yield

Yield (%) = cases detected / people screened x 100; number needed to screen = people screened / cases detected

Worked example

With the default values below, Screening Yield Calculator returns Screening yield of 0.4000%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

People screenedaccepts 1–10,000,000
5,000
Cases detectedaccepts 0–1,000,000
20

Results

Screening yield
0.4000%
Cases per 1,000 screened
4.000
Number needed to screen per case
250.0
Detection rate per 100,000
400.0

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Screening yield
  3. 3Screening yield= 0.4000
  4. 4Cases per 1,000 screened= 4.000
  5. 5Number needed to screen per case= 250.0
  6. 6Detection rate per 100,000= 400.0

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What drives yield?

Underlying prevalence in the group screened, plus test sensitivity; targeting higher-risk groups raises yield.

Is a high yield always good?

It indicates efficient targeting, but overdiagnosis means some detected cases would never have caused harm.

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Screening Yield Calculator – Calculate Screening yield