Diagnostic Performance, Stability, and Usability of Self-Collected Combo Swabs and Saliva for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Diagnosis: A Case-Control Study

Overview

Journal Infect Chemother

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2022 Oct 5

PMID 36196610

Authors

Seong Jin Choi

Jongtak Jung

Eu Suk Kim

Hong Bin Kim

Jeong Su Park

Kyoung Un Park

Hyunju Lee

Eunyoung Lee

Pyoeng Gyun Choe

Ji-Yeon Kim

Eun Joo Lee

Kyoung-Ho Song

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Self-sampling procedures to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is important for patients who have difficulty visiting the hospital and may decrease the burden for health care workers (HCWs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance, stability and usability of self-collected nasal and oral combo swabs and saliva specimens.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a case-control study with 50 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 50 healthy volunteers from March, 2021 to June, 2021. We performed real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction to compare the diagnostic performance of self-collected specimens using positive percent agreements (PPAs).

Results: The PPAs between self-collected and HCW-collected specimens were 77.3 - 81.0% and 80.5 -86.7% for the combo swabs and saliva specimens, respectively. The PPAs increased to 88.9 - 89.2% and 81.2 - 82.1% with a cycle threshold value ≤30.

Conclusion: The diagnostic performance of self sampling was comparable to that of HCW sampling in patients with high viral loads and may thus assist in the early diagnosis of COVID-19.

Citing Articles

Self-swabbing versus assisted swabbing for viral detection by qRT-PCR: the experience from SARS-CoV-2 based on a meta-analysis of six prospectively designed evaluations conducted in a UK setting.

Fowler T, Chapman D, Futschik M, Tunkel S, Blandford E, Turek E Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2024; 43(8):1621-1630.

PMID: 38856828 PMC: 11271363. DOI: 10.1007/s10096-024-04866-z.

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