ArticleTropical medicine & international health : TM & IH2021
"I got tested at home, the help came to me": acceptability and feasibility of home-based TB testing of household contacts using portable molecular diagnostics in South Africa.
Article in Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Implementation determinants of rapid diagnostic tests for fever management in sub-Saharan Africa: a mixed-studies systematic review.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Implementation strategies to increase the uptake and impact of molecular WHO-recommended rapid diagnostic tests: evidence from a mixed-methods systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Community views on active case finding for tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative evidence synthesis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Rapid molecular tests for tuberculosis and tuberculosis drug resistance: a qualitative evidence synthesis of recipient and provider views.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of ethical implications intertwined with tuberculosis household contact investigation: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Centralized molecular testing of community-collected tongue swabs for tuberculosis screening among household contacts: a cross-sectional diagnostic performance, yield, and implementation study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- In-home molecular testing of tongue swabs and sputum to inform household-level screening with diagnostic escalation strategies for tuberculosis contact investigation: a prospective cohort study in South Africa.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Acceptability and usability of home-based HIV and blood glucose self-testing and home-based blood pressure measurement in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Using sputum and tongue swab specimens for in-home point-of-care targeted universal testing for tuberculosis of household contacts: an acceptability and feasibility analysis.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Diabetes and Hypertension Screening and Diagnosis by Community Health Workers in Rural Lesotho: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study.Annals of global health · 2025Article
- Health care needs survey to improve preparedness of community outreach clinics after severe flooding in Mulanje district, Malawi.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- In-home TB Testing Using GeneXpert Edge is Acceptable, Feasible, and Improves the Proportion of Symptomatic Household Contacts Tested for TB: A Proof-of-Concept Study.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Examining the referral of patients with elevated blood pressure to health resources in an under-resourced community in South Africa.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Implementation considerations for a point-of-care Neisseria gonorrhoeae rapid diagnostic test at primary healthcare level in South Africa: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Challenges & Solutions for Recent Advancements in Multi-Drugs Resistance Tuberculosis: A Review.Microbiology insights · 2023Review
- Factors influencing adolescent girls and young women's uptake of community-based PrEP services following home-based HIV testing in Eastern Cape, South Africa: a qualitative study.AIDS and behavior · 2022Article
- Participant experiences using novel home-based blood collection device for viral load testing in HIV cure trials with analytical treatment interruptionsHIV research & clinical practice · 2022Article
- Diagnosing Tuberculosis: What Do New Technologies Allow Us to (Not) Do?Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases · 2022Review
- Integrating interferon-gamma release assay testing into provision of tuberculosis preventive therapy is feasible in a tuberculosis high burden resource-limited setting: A mixed methods study.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Identifying Enablers of Participant Engagement in Clinical Trials of Consumer Health Technologies: Qualitative Study of Influenza Home Testing.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe effectiveness of household contact investigations is limited by low referral uptake for clinic-based TB testing by symptomatic household contacts. We qualitatively investigated the acceptability and perceived benefits of home-based TB testing using a portable GeneXpert-I instrument (GX-I) in an urban South African township.
methodsIn-depth interviews were conducted with household contacts tested and those that observed testing. Semi-structured interviews explored household contact's understanding of TB, perceptions of the GX-I device and testing procedures, confidentiality, willingness to refer others, and views on home- vs. clinic-based testing. Focus group discussions with home-based TB testing implementing staff assessed operational considerations for scale-up. Data were analysed using a constant comparison approach to qualitatively evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of home-based TB testing.
resultsThirty in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted. Observing one's own sputum being tested resulted in an emergent trust in home-based TB testing, the GX-I device and one's test results. Home-based TB testing was considered convenient, helped to overcome apathy towards testing and mitigated barriers to clinic-based testing. Perceptions that home-based TB testing contributes to improved household and community health resulted in an emergent theme of alleviation of health insecurities. Operational concerns regarding inadvertent disclosure of one's diagnosis to household members and time spent in people's homes were identified.
conclusionsHome-based TB testing was acceptable and feasible. Individuals expressed belief in the machine by being able to witness the testing process. Though most themes mirrored qualitative studies of home-based HIV testing, the alleviation of health insecurities theme is unique to home-based TB testing. Future research must evaluate the impact of home-based TB testing on case finding yield, time-to-treatment initiation and household outcomes.
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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.