October 12, 2020

Clinical Impact of Molecular Point-of-Care Testing for Suspected COVID-19 in Hospital (COV-19POC): A Prospective, Interventional, Non-Randomised, Controlled Study

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): candidate, health care setting, report, summarize

• Point-of-care testing for SARS-CoV-2 was associated with large reductions in time to results compared with centralized laboratory PCR testing in a prospective, interventional, non-randomized study of molecular point-of-care testing in the UK. 39% of adult patients in the point-of-care testing group and 28% in the control group tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection using nose and throat swabs. A Cox proportional hazards regression model controlling for age, sex, time of presentation, and severity of illness showed that time to results was significantly shorter in the point-of-care testing group than in the control group. The authors suggest that this decreased time to results could improve infection control measures and patient flow.

Brendish et al. (Oct 8, 2020). Clinical Impact of Molecular Point-of-Care Testing for Suspected COVID-19 in Hospital (COV-19POC): A Prospective, Interventional, Non-Randomised, Controlled Study. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30454-9