Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
What is the diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) of nucleic acid-amplification tests (NAAT) for the diagnosis of coronavirus infections?
Study design:
This review article included 51 studies, of which 22 including 10,181 persons before COVID-19 and 29 including 8,742 persons diagnosing SARS-CoV-2.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found the overall summary sensitivity was 89.1% [95% CR = 84.0% to 92.7%] and the specificity was 98.9% [95% CR = 98.0% to 99.4%].
Nearly all evaluated different PCRs both as index and reference standard.
The investigators found real-time-RT PCR essays resulted in significantly higher sensitivity than other tests.
The investigators found reference standards at high risk of bias possibly exaggerated specificity.
The investigators found the pooled sensitivity and specificity of studies evaluating SARS-COV-2 were 90.4% [95% CR = 83.7 to 94.5%] and 98.1% [95% CR = 95.9 to 99.2], respectively.
SARS-COV-2 studies using lower respiratory tract samples, real-time RT-PCR and tests targeting the N, S or more than one gene showed higher sensitivity and RT-LAMP-based essays, especially when targeting only the RdRp gene, showed significantly lower sensitivity compared to other studies.
The investigators concluded that about 10% of patients with coronavirus infections might be missed on average with PCR tests. Variables affecting sensitivity and specificity can be used for test selection and development.
Original title:
Nucleic-acid-amplification tests from respiratory samples for the diagnosis of coronavirus infections: systematic review and meta-analysis by Hellou MM, Górska, […], Paul M.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7657614/
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on coronavirus right here.