A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing the Diagnostic Accuracy Tests of COVID-19

Background Accurate and reliable diagnosis of COVID 19 is essential for effective disease management and public health interventions. SARS CoV 2 antibody/antigen tests play a crucial role in identifying covid 19 infections and assessing immunity in populations. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of SARS CoV 2 antibody tests in diagnosing COVID 19. Method A comprehensive systematic review of the literature was conducted using prominent scientific databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and Scopus to search studies published from January 2020 to May 2023. The review followed the PRISMA DTA framework to ensure transparency and rigor in the selection and evaluation of studies. The QUADAS 2 tool was utilized to assess study quality and risk of bias. This review was registered on PROSPERO (registration number CRD 42023445695). Results The pooled sensitivity of SARS CoV 2 antibody/antigen tests was found to be 73% (95% CI: 60 to 86), with individual studies reporting a wide range from 30% to 100%. The pooled specificity was 98% (95% CI: 97 to 100), with values ranging from 85.9% to 100%. The pooled accuracy was 88%, showing variation from 50% to 100% across different studies. Conclusion This review highlights the moderate to high sensitivity and specificity of SARS CoV 2 antibody/antigen tests for COVID-19 diagnosis. The substantial variability in test performance necessitates the standardization of testing protocols and further research to improve accuracy and reliability. These findings offer valuable insights for clinical decision making and the formulation of effective public health strategies related to COVID 19 diagnosis.

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Recombinant proteins as promising antigens applied to the immunodiagnosis of Chagas disease: a scoping review

Resende,

Ribeiro,

Gandra

et al. 2024

Front. Microbiol.

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Chagas disease (CD), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important public health problem, occurring mainly in Latin America. The disease has a major social and economical effect, negatively impacting the life of the infected individuals, and bringing great costs to public health. An early and accurate diagnosis is essential for administration of early treatment. In addition, prognostic tests may aid disease management, decreasing hospitalization costs. However, the serological diagnostic scenario for CD still faces several challenges, making the development of new diagnostic kits a pressing matter. Facing this scenario, several researchers have expanded efforts in developing and testing new antigens, such as recombinant proteins and recombinant multiepitope proteins, with promising results. These recombinant antigens offer several advantages, such as improved sensitivity and specificity, in addition to facilitated scaling. Also, it has been possible to observe a rising number of studies using ELISA and point-of-care platforms, employing these antigens in the past few years. Among them, recombinant proteins were the most applied antigens, demonstrating great capacity to discriminate between positive and negative samples. Although fewer in number, recombinant multiepitope proteins also demonstrated an improved diagnostic performance. Indeed, a great number of studies employing these antigens showed sensitivity and specificity values above 90%, greatly impacting diagnostic accuracy. Nevertheless, despite the good results found, it is still possible to observe some bottlenecks in the development of new antigens, such as the scarcity of tests with sera from the acute phase and the variability of results in different geographic areas. In this sense, aiming to contribute to control and health programs, the continuous search for a more accurate serological diagnosis is essential, both for the acute and chronic phases of the disease.

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A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing the Diagnostic Accuracy Tests of COVID-19

Cited by 3 publications

References 180 publications

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in self-reported COVID-19-free children

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in self-reported COVID-19-free children

Comparative Analysis of COVID-19 Serological testing methods to Polymerase Chain Reaction: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Recombinant proteins as promising antigens applied to the immunodiagnosis of Chagas disease: a scoping review

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