Point of Care Nucleic Acid Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in Hospitalized Patients: A Clinical Validation Trial and Implementation Study.
prospective_cohort · Level II
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32838340.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100062 and PMC identifier 7362826.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
There is an urgent need for rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing in hospitals to limit nosocomial spread. We report an evaluation of point of care (POC) nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) in 149 participants with parallel combined nasal and throat swabbing for POC versus standard lab RT-PCR testing. Median time to result is 2.6 (IQR 2.3-4.8) versus 26.4 h (IQR 21.4-31.4, p < 0.001), with 32 (21.5%) positive and 117 (78.5%) negative. Cohen's κ correlation between tests is 0.96 (95% CI 0.91-1.00). When comparing nearly 1,000 tests pre- and post-implementation, the median time to definitive bed placement from admission is 23.4 (8.6-41.9) versus 17.1 h (9.0-28.8), p = 0.02. Mean length of stay on COVID-19 "holding" wards is 58.5 versus 29.9 h (p < 0.001). POC testing increases isolation room availability, avoids bed closures, allows discharge to care homes, and expedites access to hospital procedures. POC testing could mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on hospital systems.
Medical subject headings
- COVID-19
- COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing
- Infection Control
- Point-of-Care Testing
- SARS-CoV-2