SynthesisClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2019
The Clinical Utility of Point-of-Care Tests for Influenza in Ambulatory Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of point-of-care panel tests in ambulatory care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- In-vitro diagnostic point-of-care tests in paediatric ambulatory care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- In-Hospital Complications of Influenza A and B Among Hospitalized Australian Children in the Post-COVID Era.The clinical respiratory journal · 2026Article
- Impact of Rapid Viral Testing on Patient Flow and Length of Stay in a Tertiary Pediatric Emergency Department.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association Between Point-of-Care Viral Testing for Influenza and Adenovirus and Antibiotic Management in a Pediatric Emergency Department in Italy.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Diagnostic testing and antibiotic stewardship for pneumonia in children worldwide: current developments and next steps.Current opinion in pediatrics · 2025Review
- The Impact of Point-of-Care Testing for Influenza on Antimicrobial Stewardship in UK Primary Care: Nested Cohort Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- The Impact of Point-of-Care Testing for Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis on Antibiotic Prescribing and Patient Health Outcomes in Outpatient Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- At-home testing for respiratory viruses: a minireview of the current landscape.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2024Review
- Recommendations on Rapid Diagnostic Point-of-care Molecular Tests for Respiratory Infections in the United Arab Emirates.The open respiratory medicine journal · 2024Review
- Primary care during COVID-19 pandemic - a survey to establish clinical needs and lessons learned in infectious respiratory diseases in Spain.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Curtailing virus-induced inflammation in respiratory infections: emerging strategies for therapeutic interventions.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
- A Novel GPPAS Model: Guiding the Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship in Primary Care Utilising Collaboration between General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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- Using Point of Care Testing to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness in the English primary care sentinel surveillance network.PloS one · 2021Article
- Do point-of-care tests (POCTs) offer a new paradigm for the management of patients with influenza?Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2020Article
- Antibiotic utilization in hospitalized children under 2 years of age with influenza or respiratory syncytial virus infection - a comparative, retrospective analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Article
- Integrating molecular point-of-care testing for influenza into primary care: a mixed-methods feasibility study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPoint-of-care tests (POCTs) for influenza are diagnostically superior to clinical diagnosis, but their impact on patient outcomes is unclear.
methodsA systematic review of influenza POCTs versus usual care in ambulatory care settings. Studies were identified by searching six databases and assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Estimates of risk ratios (RR), standardised mean differences, 95% confidence intervals and I2 were obtained by random effects meta-analyses. We explored heterogeneity with sensitivity analyses and meta-regression.
results12,928 citations were screened. Seven randomized studies (n = 4,324) and six non-randomized studies (n = 4,774) were included. Most evidence came from paediatric emergency departments. Risk of bias was moderate in randomized studies and higher in non-randomized studies. In randomized trials, POCTs had no effect on admissions (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.61-1.42, I2 = 34%), returning for care (RR 1.00 95% CI = 0.77-1.29, I2 = 7%), or antibiotic prescribing (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.82-1.15, I2 = 70%), but increased prescribing of antivirals (RR 2.65, 95% CI 1.95-3.60; I2 = 0%). Further testing was reduced for full blood counts (FBC) (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69-0.92 I2 = 0%), blood cultures (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.68-0.99; I2 = 0%) and chest radiography (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.96; I2 = 32%), but not urinalysis (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.78-w1.07; I2 = 20%). Time in the emergency department was not changed. Fewer non-randomized studies reported these outcomes, with some findings reversed or attenuated (fewer antibiotic prescriptions and less urinalysis in tested patients).
conclusionsPoint-of-care testing for influenza influences prescribing and testing decisions, particularly for children in emergency departments. Observational evidence shows challenges for real-world implementation.
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