Available online 18 September 2023, 105597

Point-of-care (POC) testing reduced order-to-result turnaround time for SARS-CoV-2

ED length of stay increased for SARS-CoV-2-positive patients after POC testing

Antibiotic prescribing was lower following implementation of the POC method

Antiviral prescribing was higher following implementation of the POC method

Rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for reduction of transmission and clinical decision-making. Several rapid (<30 minutes) molecular point-of-care (POC) tests based on nucleic acid amplification exist for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B infections.

This unblinded, pre-post study enrolled consecutive patients with symptoms/signs consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection presenting to the University of California, Davis emergency department (ED). Outcomes following implementation of the cobas® SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B test for use on the cobas Liat System (intervention: December 2020–May 2021) were compared with previous standard-of-care using centralized laboratory reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods (control: April 2020–October 2020).

Electronic health records of 8879 symptomatic patient visits were analyzed, comprising 4339 and 4540 visits and 538 and 638 positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results in the control and intervention periods, respectively. Compared with the control period, turnaround time (TAT) was shorter in the intervention period (median 0.98 vs 12.30 hours; p<0.0001). ED length of stay (LOS) was generally longer in the intervention period compared with the control period, but for those SARS-CoV-2-negative who were admitted, ED LOS was shorter (median 12.53 vs 17.93 hours; p<0.0001). The rate of antibiotic prescribing was lower in the intervention than in the control period (42.86% vs 49.16%; p<0.0001) and antiviral prescribing was higher (7.64% vs 5.49%; p<0.0001).

This real-world study confirms faster TAT with a POC RT-PCR method in an emergency care setting and highlights the importance of rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection to aid patient management and inform treatment decisions.

SARS-CoV-2

molecular testing

PCR

point-of-care

diagnosis

influenza

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.