July 23, 2020

Comparison of Unsupervised Home Self-Collected Midnasal Swabs With Clinician-Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

• Compared to clinician-collected swabs, home-based self-collected swabs had a sensitivity of 80.0% (95% CI: 63–91%) and a specificity of 97.9% (95% CI: 94–99.5%). These results were based on a cohort of 185 symptomatic people who presented at drive-through clinics in Washington State who underwent both an unsupervised home self-collected swab and a clinician-collected nasopharyngeal swabs for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR.  

McCulloch et al. (July 22, 2020). Comparison of Unsupervised Home Self-Collected Midnasal Swabs With Clinician-Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.16382