Utility of COVID-19 antigen testing in the emergency department.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-15-2022
Publication Title
Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The BinaxNOW coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Ag Card test (Abbott Diagnostics Scarborough, Inc.) is a lateral flow immunochromatographic point-of-care test for the qualitative detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid protein antigen. It provides results from nasal swabs in 15 minutes. Our purpose was to determine its sensitivity and specificity for a COVID-19 diagnosis.
METHODS: Eligible patients had symptoms of COVID-19 or suspected exposure. After consent, 2 nasal swabs were collected; 1 was tested using the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 (ie, the gold standard polymerase chain reaction test) and the second run on the BinaxNOW point of care platform by emergency department staff.
RESULTS: From July 20 to October 28, 2020, 767 patients were enrolled, of which 735 had evaluable samples. Their mean (SD) age was 46.8 (16.6) years, and 422 (57.4%) were women. A total of 623 (84.8%) patients had COVID-19 symptoms, most commonly shortness of breath (
CONCLUSIONS: The BinaxNOW point-of-care test has good sensitivity and excellent specificity for the detection of COVID-19. We recommend using the BinasNOW for patients with symptoms up to 2 weeks.
Volume
3
Issue
1
First Page
12605
Last Page
12605
Recommended Citation
Peacock WF, Soto-Ruiz KM, House SL, Cannon CM, Headden G, Tiffany B, et al [Bastani A, Clark C] Utility of covid-19 antigen testing in the emergency department. J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2022 Jan 15;3(1):e12605. doi: 10.1002/emp2.12605. PMID: 35072154.
DOI
10.1002/emp2.12605
ISSN
2688-1152
PubMed ID
35072154
