COVID-19 diagnostic tests: importance of the clinical context.

Medicina clinica · Aug 2021

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COVID-19 diagnostic tests: importance of the clinical context.

The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic poses numerous health challenges, including the adequate use and proper interpretation of the different available tests in different clinical settings. As any diagnostic test, those of SARS-CoV-2 have methodological limitations of sensitivity (S) and specificity (E), which eventually determine their positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive value. Furthermore, their diagnostic performance depends on the clinical context in which these tests are used, that is, on the pretest probability. This article: (1) reviews the main methodological aspects that influence the S, E, PPV and NPV of the most common SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests; and, (2) discusses its diagnostic interpretation in different clinical settings.

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- Marc Vila Muntadas, Inés Agustí Sunyer, and Alvar Agustí Garcia-Navarro.
- Equip d'Atenció Primària Vic (EAPVIC), Vic, Barcelona, España. Electronic address: marcvilamuntadas@gmail.com.
- Med Clin (Barc). 2021 Aug 27; 157 (4): 185190185-190.
AbstractThe current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic poses numerous health challenges, including the adequate use and proper interpretation of the different available tests in different clinical settings. As any diagnostic test, those of SARS-CoV-2 have methodological limitations of sensitivity (S) and specificity (E), which eventually determine their positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive value. Furthermore, their diagnostic performance depends on the clinical context in which these tests are used, that is, on the pretest probability. This article: (1) reviews the main methodological aspects that influence the S, E, PPV and NPV of the most common SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests; and, (2) discusses its diagnostic interpretation in different clinical settings.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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COVID-19 diagnostic tests: importance of the clinical context.

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