Rapid, Point-of-Care Antigen Tests for Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
2022
This study reviewed the diagnostic accuracy of rapid, point-of-care antigen tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection, differentiating results between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Using data from 155 study cohorts, the study found that the sensitivity of antigen tests was generally higher for symptomatic individuals, especially during the first week after symptom onset, due to higher viral loads.
For example, average sensitivity was higher in symptomatic (73.0%) compared to asymptomatic participants (54.7). Average sensitivity was higher in the first week after symptom onset (80.9%) than in the second week of symptoms (53.8%). For those who were asymptomatic at the time of testing, sensitivity was higher when an epidemiological exposure to SARS‐CoV‐2 was suspected (64.3%) compared to where COVID‐19 testing was reported to be widely available to anyone on presentation for testing (49.6%).
While sensitivities varied widely between different commercial antigen assays, specificities were consistently high in both symptomatic (99.1%) and asymptomatic (99.7%) participants.
The study's conclusion highlighted that while these antigen tests could potentially replace lab-based RT-PCR tests in urgent scenarios or when timely RT-PCR results are not feasible, their variable sensitivity means negative results don't definitively rule out infection. The utility of these tests in asymptomatic populations remains less convincing due to lower sensitivity.
Rapid, Point-of-Care Antigen Tests for Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Source:
Dinnes J, Sharma P, Berhane S et al. Rapid, Point-of-Care Antigen Tests for Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2022; 7. https://doi.org/10.1002%2F14651858.CD013705.pub3