tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Med Virol
. 2022 Jun 17.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.27943. Online ahead of print.
Evaluation of diagnostic test procedures for SARS-CoV-2 using latent class models
Jacob Staerk-Østergaard[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Carsten Kirkeby[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lasse Engbo Christiansen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Michael Asger Andersen[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Camilla Holten Møller[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marianne Voldstedlund[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Matthew J Denwood
Affiliations
Abstract
PCR and antigen tests have been used extensively for screening during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, the real-world sensitivity and specificity of the two testing procedures in the field have not yet been estimated without assuming that the PCR constitutes a gold standard test. We use latent class models to estimate the in situ performance of both tests using data from the Danish national registries. We find that the specificity of both tests is very high (>99.7%), while the sensitivities are 95.7% (95% CI: 92.8-98.4%) and 53.8% (95% CI: 49.8-57.9%) for the PCR and antigen tests, respectively. These findings have implications for the use of confirmatory PCR tests following a positive antigen test result: we estimate that serial testing is counter-productive at higher prevalence levels. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Biostatistics & Bioinformatics; Epidemiology; SARS coronavirus; Test statistics; Virus classification.
. 2022 Jun 17.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.27943. Online ahead of print.
Evaluation of diagnostic test procedures for SARS-CoV-2 using latent class models
Jacob Staerk-Østergaard[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Carsten Kirkeby[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lasse Engbo Christiansen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Michael Asger Andersen[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Camilla Holten Møller[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marianne Voldstedlund[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Matthew J Denwood
Affiliations
- PMID: 35713189
- DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27943
Abstract
PCR and antigen tests have been used extensively for screening during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, the real-world sensitivity and specificity of the two testing procedures in the field have not yet been estimated without assuming that the PCR constitutes a gold standard test. We use latent class models to estimate the in situ performance of both tests using data from the Danish national registries. We find that the specificity of both tests is very high (>99.7%), while the sensitivities are 95.7% (95% CI: 92.8-98.4%) and 53.8% (95% CI: 49.8-57.9%) for the PCR and antigen tests, respectively. These findings have implications for the use of confirmatory PCR tests following a positive antigen test result: we estimate that serial testing is counter-productive at higher prevalence levels. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Biostatistics & Bioinformatics; Epidemiology; SARS coronavirus; Test statistics; Virus classification.