A test to determine if a specified candidate concept or expression is a subtype descendant of another specified concept or expression.

Literally speaking a subsumption test determines if one concept is subsumed by another.
In the context of SNOMED CT a concept is subsumed by its supertypes and subsumes its subtypes. So the following terms are for all practical purposes interchangeable.

Uses of the terms subsumption and subsume	Equivalent uses of the words supertype and subtype
subsumption test	subtype test
A subsumes B	A is a supertype of B
A is subsumed by C	A is a subtype of C

To answer the question "Which patients have an infectious disease?" involves finding all of the patients with records that include a concept or expression that is subsumed by the concept 40733004 | Infectious disease (disorder)| .

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