posted
is it true that the pregnancy tests that you can buy over the counter can have false negatives, but never false positives?
Posts: 118 | Registered: Sep 2001
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False negatives can be caused by human error (not peeing on the test long enough) or test failure (using an expired test, test is stored in a bad place, etc.)
Also, for a test to show up positive, it has to detect pregnancy hormones in the urine. Once these hormones are detected, the test will read positive. That's what that second window is testing for. If there are no pregnancy hormones to detect, the test would not show up as a positive.
posted
Well, if you check the result after a long time (much longer than the time indicated on the box), it might be a false positive. That's why the test has to be looked at after the time indicated and then _thrown away_ .
Posts: 127 | Registered: Nov 2001
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posted
Also, a test that sits for longer than five to ten minutes can lose its positive result if the positive line is faint.
Posts: 1287 | From: Missouri | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
In my experience, if a home pregnancy test comes up positive twice (I always take it twice, the statistical probability of getting 2 false positives is so small, you would have a better chance at winning the lotto), go to a doctor cause you can retake it, and retake it, but it will keep reading positive. I took several when I was pregnant, cause I kept hoping for one test to be negative. It never happened. Anyhoo, that is my perspective on home pregnancy tests.
Posts: 234 | From: Ottawa, Ont, Canada | Registered: Mar 2002
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