Effectiveness and use of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction point of care testing in a large-scale COVID-19 surveillance system.
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf
; 31(5): 511-518, 2022 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1777608
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Rapid COVID-19 testing platforms can identify infected individuals at the point of care (POC), allowing immediate isolation of infected individuals and reducing the risk of transmission. While lab-based nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) is often considered the gold standard to detect SARS-CoV-2 in the community, results typically take 2-7 days to return, rendering POC testing a critical diagnostic tool for infection control. The National Football League (NFL) and NFL Players Association deployed a new POC testing strategy using a newly available reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) rapid test during the 2020 season, and evaluated diagnostic effectiveness compared to other available devices using real-world population surveillance data.METHODS:
RT-PCR POC test results were compared to NAAT results from same-day samples by calculation of positive and negative concordance. Sensitivity analyses were performed for three subgroups (1) individuals symptomatic at time of positive test; (2) individuals tested during the pilot phase of rollout; and (3) individuals tested daily.RESULTS:
Among 4989 same-day POC/NAAT pairs, 4957 (99.4%) were concordant, with 93.1% positive concordance and 99.6% negative concordance. Based on adjudicated case status, the false negative rate was 0.2% and false positive rate was 2.9%. In 43 instances, the immediate turnaround of results by POC allowed isolation of infected individuals 1 day sooner than lab-based testing. Positive/negative concordance in sensitivity analyses were relatively stable.CONCLUSION:
RT-PCR POC testing provided timely results that were highly concordant with lab-based NAAT in population surveillance. Expanded use of effective RT-PCR POC can enable rapid isolation of infected individuals and reduce COVID-19 infection in the community.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf
Journal subject:
Epidemiology
/
Drug Therapy
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Pds.5424
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