AUTHOR=Yang Yu-Pei , Jiesisibieke Zhu Liduzi , Tung Tao-Hsin 

TITLE=Association Between Rapid Antigen Detection Tests and Real-Time Reverse Transcription–Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 68 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605452

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2023.1605452

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Objective: We aimed to assess the association between rapid antigen detection tests and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and the Web of Science from their inception to 31 May 2023. A random-effects meta-analysis were used to estimate false positive in the RADTs group relative to those in the RT-PCR group and conducted subgroup analyses based on the different Ct value cut-off (<40 or ≥40). We performed this study in accordance with guidelines outlined in PRISMA.Results: Fifty-one studies were included and considered to be of moderate quality.We found the satisfactory overall false positive rate (0.01, 95%CI: 0.00 -0.01) for the RADTs compared to RT-PCR. In the stratified analysis, we also found false positive rates of RADTs not increased when Ct values increased of RT-PCR (Ct<40, 0.01, 95%CI: 0.00-0.01; Ct ≥40, 0.01, 95%CI: 0.00-0.01).In conclusion, the best available evidence supports an association between RADTs and RT-PCR. When Ct-values were analyzed using cut-off <40 or ≥40, resulting in an estimated false positive rate of only 1%.