Comparative diagnostic performance of rapid antigen detection tests for COVID-19 in a hospital setting.

Comparative diagnostic performance of rapid antigen detection tests for COVID-19 in a hospital setting.

Bianca Bruzzone, Vanessa De Pace, Patrizia Caligiuri, Valentina Ricucci, Giulia Guarona, Beatrice M. Pennati, Simona Boccotti, Andrea Orsi, Giorgio Da Rin, Giancarlo Icardi, Alexander Domnich

The availability of accurate and rapid diagnostic tools for COVID-19 is essential for tackling the ongoing pandemic. Our study aimed to quantify the performance of available antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) in a real-world hospital setting. In this retrospective analysis, the diagnostic performance of 7 Ag-RDTs was compared with real-time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay in terms of sensitivity, specificity and expected predictive values. A total of 321 matched Ag-RDTreal-time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction samples were analyzed retrospectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the Ag-RDTs was 78.7% and 100%, respectively. However, a wide range of sensitivity estimates by brand (66.0%-93.8%) and cycle threshold (Ct) cut-off values (Ct <25: 96.2%; Ct 30-35: 31.1%) was observed. The optimal Ct cut-off value that maximized sensitivity was 29. The routine use of Ag-RDTs may be convenient in moderate-to-high intensity settings when high volumes of specimens are tested every day. However, the diagnostic performance of the commercially available tests may differ substantially.

2021

covid-19, Italy, SARS-CoV-2, Rapid Antigen Detection Test

10.1016/j.ijid.2021.04.072

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

Elsevier