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Therefore, users at high risk for infection (e.g., with symptoms and a known exposure) should still quarantine, even after receiving a negative test result. In all groups in all scenarios, the proportion of incorrect responses was highest with the authorized instructions, even higher than with no instructions.Īlthough COVID-19 at-home test kits provide results within 30 minutes, they are less sensitive (have more false negatives) than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which have an estimated clinical sensitivity of 70 percent. In the low-risk scenario, the proportion choosing unnecessary quarantine was also higher with the authorized instructions (31 percent) than with the intervention (22 percent) or control group (10 percent). In the highest risk scenario (symptoms and close contact), for example, the proportion inappropriately failing to quarantine was higher with the authorized instructions (36 percent) than with the intervention (4 percent) or with no instructions (21 percent). The researchers found that following a positive test result, the vast majority of participants appropriately said that they would follow the CDC's quarantine recommendations, regardless of which instructions they had received.īut given a negative test result in the high-risk scenarios, a substantial proportion of participants said that they would not quarantine appropriately (as recommended by the CDC) with the authorized instructions. Participants were asked to interpret results from one of four possible scenarios, three of which were considered high risk and one considered low risk for infection: having typical COVID-19 symptoms and recent close contact with an individual infected with COVID-19 no COVID-19 symptoms and recent close contact COVID-19 symptoms and no close contact and no symptoms and no recent contact.
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The study participants were given either the FDA "authorized instructions," "intervention instructions" developed and pre-tested by the researchers and based on behavioral decision research principles, or no instructions (control group).
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#Rapid covid testing pittsburgh trial#
Data analyses of the trial were performed from June to July 2021. who were recruited in April 2021 to complete an online survey on their interpretation of hypothetical at-home COVID-19 self-test results. To make this assessment, the researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial with 360 adults in the U.S.
#Rapid covid testing pittsburgh free#
As part of this effort, in mid-January the Biden Administration began distributing the first (of a planned 500 million) free at-home COVID-19 tests to the public through its new website.īut how appropriately consumers interpret and act on the results of at-home COVID-19 self-tests is unknown. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has prioritized home testing for SARS-CoV-2 for individuals with or without symptoms, issuing authorizations for eleven rapid at-home self-testing kits (as of December 2021).
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