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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1402949

Performance of self-performed SARS-CoV-2rapid antigen test: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Hongying Zhao Hongying Zhao 1*Peiling CAI Peiling CAI 2Junren Wang Junren Wang 3*Peng Ye Peng Ye 2Yarong Zhang Yarong Zhang 4*Mengping Wang Mengping Wang 2Ronglian Guo Ronglian Guo 1*
  • 1 Department of Pediatrics, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
  • 2 Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
  • 3 First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
  • 4 The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of self-tested SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests. METHODS: Databases of Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched for original studies investigating accuracy of self-tested SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests, with RT-PCR as “gold standard”. RESULTS: Forty-five eligible studies were found after database searching and screening using pre-defined criteria. The accuracy results from 50897 suspected COVID-19 patients were pooled, and the overall sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.77, 1.00, and 625.95, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed higher sensitivity of rapid antigen tests in subgroups of Abbott Panbio, self-collected nasal swab samples, and use of nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab and lower Ct cutoff value in RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: Fully self-performed SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests showed overall high accuracy compared to “gold standard”, and are reliable surrogates for the standard test of COVID-19 using nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal samples and RT-PCR.

    Keywords: COVID-19, Self-test, SARS-CoV-2, Rapid antigen test, Diagnostic accuracy

    Received: 18 Mar 2024; Accepted: 08 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhao, CAI, Wang, Ye, Zhang, Wang and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Hongying Zhao, Department of Pediatrics, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
    Junren Wang, First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
    Yarong Zhang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
    Ronglian Guo, Department of Pediatrics, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.