Diagnostic Performance of a Rapid Antigen Test for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2


ALAÇAM S., KARABULUT N., Gunduz A., Ozcan B., Aydin O. A.

Haseki Tip Bulteni, cilt.62, sa.2, ss.97-102, 2024 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 62 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.4274/haseki.galenos.2024.9748
  • Dergi Adı: Haseki Tip Bulteni
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.97-102
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, rapid diagnostic tests, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
  • Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Aim: The fight against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has proven crucial, necessitating the need for faster, cheaper, and more reliable detection methods. This study evaluated the performance of a rapid antigen test for the diagnosis of COVID-19 compared with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results. Methods: This prospective study included 169 participants. Two simultaneous nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from the participants. Samples were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) using the Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag rapid test (Abbott Rapid Diagnostics, Jena, Germany) and the Bio-Speedy® SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR kit (Bioeksen, Istanbul, Turkey). Results: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction results were positive in 90 (53.2%) of 169 patients. The antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) was able to find 66 (73.3%) of the 90 RT-PCR positive samples as positive (p<0.001). In all positive samples by Ag-RDT, RT-PCR was positive. The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of the Ag-RDT were 73.3%, 100%, 76.7%, and 100%, respectively. The virus detection performance of the Ag-RDT was significantly more successful in the cycle threshold ≤20 (p<0.001). There was no correlation between PCR positivity and the time since vaccination. Conclusion: The Ag-RDT test can be a good option for early detection of cases and early prevention, as it is quick and easy to implement in every laboratory and even at the point of care.