ArticlePloS one2020
Evaluation of pool-based testing approaches to enable population-wide screening for COVID-19.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic literature review on public health and healthcare resources for pandemic preparedness planning.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Informing optimal testing and isolation strategies across different stages of the diagnostic development pipeline using mathematical models: SARS-CoV-2 in the UK as a case study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Impact of viral load on sample pooling for reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction detection-based diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 in Nigeria.African journal of laboratory medicine · 2025Article
- Optimization of Screening Strategies for COVID-19: Scoping Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Statistical modeling and evaluation of the impact of multiplicity classification thresholds on the COVID-19 pool testing accuracy.PloS one · 2023Article
- How optimal allocation of limited testing capacity changes epidemic dynamics.Journal of theoretical biology · 2022Article
- Article
- Optimizing and evaluating PCR-based pooled screening during COVID-19 pandemics.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Use of emerging testing technologies and approaches for SARS-CoV-2: review of literature and global experience in an Australian context.Pathology · 2021Review
- Sample pooling: burden or solution?Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Review
- A discussion on the minimum required number of tests in two common pooling test methods for SARS-CoV-2.Epidemiology and infection · 2021Article
- Assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of household-pooled universal testing to control COVID-19 epidemics.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
- COVID-19 Crisis Creates Opportunity towards Global Monitoring & Surveillance.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Article
- Group Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Allows for Up to 10-Fold Efficiency Increase Across Realistic Scenarios and Testing Strategies.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Emerging from the other end: Key measures for a successful COVID-19 lockdown exit strategy and the potential contribution of pharmacists.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2021Review
- Analysis of the Prescription of Antibiotics During the Implementation of COVID-19 Personal Protection Measures in a Regional Health System.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2021Article
- COVID-19 Pandemic: Group Testing.Frontiers in medicine · 2020Article
- [Proposal for the control and mitigation of COVID-19 dissemination: strategic management of the disease].Revista Argentina de microbiologiaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveRapid testing is paramount during a pandemic to prevent continued viral spread and excess morbidity and mortality. This study investigates whether testing strategies based on sample pooling can increase the speed and throughput of screening for SARS-CoV-2, especially in resource-limited settings.
methodsIn a mathematical modelling approach conducted in May 2020, six different testing strategies were simulated based on key input parameters such as infection rate, test characteristics, population size, and testing capacity. The situations in five countries were simulated, reflecting a broad variety of population sizes and testing capacities. The primary study outcome measurements were time and number of tests required, number of cases identified, and number of false positives.
findingsThe performance of all tested methods depends on the input parameters, i.e. the specific circumstances of a screening campaign. To screen one tenth of each country's population at an infection rate of 1%, realistic optimised testing strategies enable such a campaign to be completed in ca. 29 days in the US, 71 in the UK, 25 in Singapore, 17 in Italy, and 10 in Germany. This is ca. eight times faster compared to individual testing. When infection rates are lower, or when employing an optimal, yet more complex pooling method, the gains are more pronounced. Pool-based approaches also reduce the number of false positive diagnoses by a factor of up to 100.
conclusionsThe results of this study provide a rationale for adoption of pool-based testing strategies to increase speed and throughput of testing for SARS-CoV-2, hence saving time and resources compared with individual testing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.