SynthesisPloS one2013
Are Treponema pallidum specific rapid and point-of-care tests for syphilis accurate enough for screening in resource limited settings? Evidence from a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 144 citations in OpenAlex.
- Improved rapid diagnostic tests to detect syphilis and yaws: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Sexually transmitted infections · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of antenatal syphilis point of care testing on pregnancy outcomes: A systematic review.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Diagnosing sexually transmitted infections in resource-constrained settings: challenges and ways forward.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2019Pooled it
- Antibiotic treatment for newborns with congenital syphilis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Metaanalysis of the Performance of a Combined Treponemal and Nontreponemal Rapid Diagnostic Test for Syphilis and Yaws.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2016Pooled it
- Rapid diagnostic testing to improve access to screening for syphilis in prison.Revista espanola de sanidad penitenciariaTrial
- Rapid/point-of-care syphilis testing in high-income countries: insights and implementation challenges from the authors' experience in Canada.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2026Review
- The Road to Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Syphilis in Malawi: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Health System Readiness.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Innovations and Challenges in Syphilis Screening and Prevention Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Scoping Review.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Updates on epidemiology and diagnostic tests of syphilis in South Korea.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2026Review
- Clinical development and performance of the First to Know Syphilis Self-Test for over-the-counter usage: aJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- Update on syphilis diagnostics.Current opinion in infectious diseases · 2025Review
- Evaluation of MAGLUMI syphilis test for accurate detection of syphilis antibodies in blood donors and suspected syphilis cases.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Southern African HIV Clinicians Society Guideline for the clinical management of syphilis.Southern African journal of HIV medicine · 2024Article
- Promoting STI self-testing through HIV self-testing.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2023Article
- Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Diagnosis of Active Syphilis Infection: Needs, Challenges and the Way Forward.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Bridging the gap between development of point-of-care nucleic acid testing and patient care for sexually transmitted infections.Lab on a chip · 2022Review
- Nonviral sexually transmitted infections in pregnancy: current controversies and new challenges.Current opinion in infectious diseases · 2021Review
- Nanotechnology in reproductive medicine: Opportunities for clinical translation.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2020Article
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRapid and point-of-care (POC) tests for syphilis are an invaluable screening tool, yet inadequate evaluation of their diagnostic accuracy against best reference standards limits their widespread global uptake. To fill this gap, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of rapid and POC tests in blood and serum samples against Treponema pallidum (TP) specific reference standards.
methodsFive electronic databases (1980-2012) were searched, data was extracted from 33 articles, and Bayesian hierarchical models were fit.
resultsIn serum samples, against a TP specific reference standard point estimates with 95% credible intervals (CrI) for the sensitivities of popular tests were: i) Determine, 90.04% (80.45, 95.21), ii) SD Bioline, 87.06% (75.67, 94.50), iii) VisiTect, 85.13% (72.83, 92.57), and iv) Syphicheck, 74.48% (56.85, 88.44), while specificities were: i) Syphicheck, 99.14% (96.37, 100), ii) Visitect, 96.45% (91.92, 99.29), iii) SD Bioline, 95.85% (89.89, 99.53), and iv) Determine, 94.15% (89.26, 97.66). In whole blood samples, sensitivities were: i) Determine, 86.32% (77.26, 91.70), ii) SD Bioline, 84.50% (78.81, 92.61), iii) Syphicheck, 74.47% (63.94, 82.13), and iv) VisiTect, 74.26% (53.62, 83.68), while specificities were: i) Syphicheck, 99.58% (98.91, 99.96), ii) VisiTect, 99.43% (98.22, 99.98), iii) SD Bioline, 97.95%(92.54, 99.33), and iv) Determine, 95.85% (92.42, 97.74).
conclusionsRapid and POC treponemal tests reported sensitivity and specificity estimates comparable to laboratory-based treponemal tests. In resource limited settings, where access to screening is limited and where risk of patients lost to follow up is high, the introduction of these tests has already been shown to improve access to screening and treatment to prevent stillbirths and neonatal mortality due to congenital syphilis. Based on the evidence, it is concluded that rapid and POC tests are useful in resource limited settings with poor access to laboratories or screening for syphilis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.