• Seda Salman Yılmaz, Mert Ahmet Kuşkucu, Devrim Sarıbal, Yeşim Tok, Yusuf Özdemir, Sena Alkan, Hatice Yaşar Arsu, Metin Yalçın, Okan Nohut, İlker İnanç Balkan, Gökhan Aygün, and Kenan Midilli.
• Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of COVID-19 Diagnosis Laboratory, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Istanbul, Turkey. salmanseda@gmail.com.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2022 Oct 1; 191 (5): 2201-2206.

BackgroundCOVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak has spread rapidly around the world, continues to show its effect, and it is not clear how long it will continue. For the diagnosis of COVID-19, it is important to ensure the comfort of the patients and to protect the healthcare workers (HCWs) by reducing the use of protective equipment.AimsTo evaluate or assess whether the samples taken by the patient for COVID-19 testing during this pandemic period can be used in real-life experience.MethodsThree different samples (nasopharyngeal taken by the healthcare worker, nasopharyngeal, and saliva taken by the patient) from 132 patients were evaluated for the diagnosis of COVID-19. The sensitivity and specificity of the samples in the diagnosis of COVID-19 were compared with real-life experience.ResultsPaired analyzes were performed by comparing each sample taken by the healthcare worker with the sample taken by the patient. The sensitivity of the three samples (nasopharyngeal taken by the healthcare worker, nasopharyngeal, and saliva taken by the patient) in the diagnosis of the COVID-19 was (100%, 98.7%, and 96.1%, respectively) accepted to be accurate.ConclusionsThe sample taken by the paramedic was compatible compared to the real-life experience for the samples taken by the patient in the COVID-19 pandemic period. During the pandemic that is unknown when it will end, this study demonstrated that taking the sample of the patient alone for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test is a beneficial approach to the protection of the healthcare worker, reducing the need for protective equipment, increasing the patient's comfort and rapid sampling.© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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