The goal of this study was to characterize the ability of school-aged children to self-collect adequate anterior nares (AN) swabs for SARS-CoV-2 testing. 287 children aged 4-14 years-old, of whom 197 were symptomatic, watched a short instructional video before providing a self-collected anterior nares specimen. Health care workers (HCWs) then collected a second specimen, and useability was assessed by the child and HCW.
94.1% of children provided adequate self-swabs versus 96.5% HCW-swabs with no difference when stratified by age.
The study concluded that children, aged 4-14 years-old, can provide adequate AN specimens for SARS-CoV-2 detection when presented with age-appropriate instructional material, consisting of a video and a handout, at a single timepoint. These data support the use of self-collected anterior nasal swabs among school-age children for SARS-CoV-2 testing.