Assessment of Sensitivity and Specificity of Patient-Collected Lower Nasal Specimens for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

This prognostic study compared collection of three specimens: a patient-collected lower nasal swab, a physician-collected lower nasal swab and a physician-collected oropharyngeal swab from 30 participants infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Diagnostic equivalence was seen across the three methods of specimen collection.

While it was discussed that the small sample size limits generalizability, self-collected lower nasal swabs were considered suitable for home or office-based testing of asymptomatic patients.

Altamirano, J., Govindarajan, P., Blomkalns, A. L., Kushner, L. E., Stevens, B. A., Pinsky, B. A., & Maldonado, Y. Assessment of Sensitivity and Specificity of Patient-Collected Lower Nasal Specimens for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2Testing. JAMA Network Open, 3(6), e2012005-e2012005. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.12005

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