Rapid collaborative review on the diagnostic accuracy of molecular methods that detect the presence of the SARS-COV-2 virus in people with suspected COVID-19

Health Technology Wales; Healthcare Improvement Scotland; Austrian Social Insurance
Record ID 32018000944
English
Authors' objectives: The objective of this assessment was to identify, assess and summarise evidence on the performance and diagnostic accuracy of the molecular tests and methods based on nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) for the diagnosis of a suspected infection with SARS-CoV-2. This assessment has been carried out in approximately 5 months and it was published on the 4th of December 2020. Owing to the urgency of the situation, the present assessment was performed very rapidly.
Authors' results and conclusions: As a result of the quality and limited number of eligible studies, insufficient evidence was found for the evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of NAAT in asymptomatic subjects, monitoring of close contacts, or as part of mass screening. Nevertheless, a substantial body of evidence was found in order to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of NAAT in suspected, active infections with SARS-CoV-2. The analysis revealed generally comparable diagnostic accuracies across the different types of identified test classes. This suggests that alternative NAAT have the potential to provide solutions in order to overcome issues associated with the current diagnostic protocols and boost testing capacity. However, the limitations of the existing evidence base should be taken into account by decision-makers.
Details
Project Status: Completed
URL for project: https://eunethta.eu/rcrot02/
URL for protocol: https://eunethta.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Project_Plan_RCROT02_Molecular_Methods_08102020.pdf
Year Published: 2020
URL for published report: https://eunethta.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/RCR_OT_02_Final_Adrian_v1.2.pdf
URL for additional information: https://eunethta.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/RCROT02_Plain_LanguageSummary_Adrian_Publication_final.pdf
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Full HTA
Country: Wales, United Kingdom
MeSH Terms
  • Coronavirus Infections
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques
  • Diagnosis
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing
  • COVID-19 Serological Testing
Keywords
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • COVID-19
  • Molecular Tests
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Test
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Reverse Transcriptase Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification
  • NAAT
  • RT-PCR
  • RT-LAMP
Contact
Organisation Name: Health Technology Wales
Contact Address: c/o Digital Health Care Wales, 21 Cowbridge Road East Cardiff CF11 9AD
Contact Name: Susan Myles, PhD
Contact Email: healthtechnology@wales.nhs.uk
Copyright: EUnetHTA
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.