SynthesisBMC infectious diseases2021
A systematic review of the sensitivity and specificity of lateral flow devices in the detection of SARS-CoV-2.
Synthesis in BMC infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 5 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
62 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Real-World Accuracy of Wearable Activity Trackers for Detecting Medical Conditions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Diagnostic value of BinaxNOW antigen card for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.Bioengineered · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of testing, contact tracing and isolation interventions among the general population on reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Influence of seasonal and operator variations on diagnostic accuracy of lateral flow devices during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19 antigen tests: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA · 2021Pooled it
- Lateral flow test performance in children for SARS-CoV-2 using anterior nasal and buccal swabbing: sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values.Archives of disease in childhood · 2023Trial
- AI-Driven Workflow for Automated Colorimetric Isothermal Amplification for Robust Pathogen Detection on Portable Devices.ACS omega · 2026Article
- The impact of school-based mitigation measures on the transmission of respiratory pathogens: the case of SARS-CoV-2.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Development and validation of a rapid triple-target gold nanoparticle lateral flow immunoassay for detection of three avian mycoplasmas immunochromatographic strip test for avian mycoplasma detection.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Morphology-guided deep learning for nanoparticle agglomeration diagnostic assays.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- An Enzymatic Recombinase Amplification Coupled Lateral Flow Assay for Rapid, Visual, and Cost-Effective Detection of Bordetella pertussis.Current microbiology · 2026Article
- Development of a colorimetric RT-LAMP-based microfluidic device for SARS-CoV-2 detection.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Article
- Immunoassays for the detection and differentiation of Paenibacillus larvae, the etiological agent of American foulbrood (AFB) in honey bees.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Highly Sensitive Detection of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Human Serum Using Bloch Surface Wave Biosensor.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Clinical performance of a dual-target SARS CoV-2 antibody assay using sera from Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- A Printable OECT for Simple Integration in Nitrocellulose-Based Assays.ACS sensors · 2025Article
- The crucial role of immune factors in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity of COVID-19.Molecular genetics and genomics : MGG · 2025Article
- Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of visual triage checklist in early recognition of COVID-19 cases in the pediatric population: A retrospective cohort study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Portable molecular diagnostic platform for rapid point-of-care detection of mpox and other diseases.Nature communications · 2025Article
2 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
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLateral flow devices (LFDs) are viral antigen tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 that produce a rapid result, are inexpensive and easy to operate. They have been advocated for use by the World Health Organisation to help control outbreaks and break the chain of transmission of COVID-19 infections. There are now several studies assessing their accuracy but as yet no systematic review. Our aims were to assess the sensitivity and specificity of LFDs in a systematic review and summarise the sensitivity and specificity of these tests.
methodsA targeted search of Pubmed and Medxriv, using PRISMA principles, was conducted identifying clinical studies assessing the sensitivity and specificity of LFDs as their primary outcome compared to reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Based on extracted data sensitivity and specificity was calculated for each study. Data was pooled based on manufacturer of LFD and split based on operator (self-swab or by trained professional) and sensitivity and specificity data were calculated.
resultsTwenty-four papers were identified involving over 26,000 test results. Sensitivity from individual studies ranged from 37.7% (95% CI 30.6-45.5) to 99.2% (95% CI 95.5-99.9) and specificity from 92.4% (95% CI 87.5-95.5) to 100.0% (95% CI 99.7-100.0). Operation of the test by a trained professional or by the test subject with self-swabbing produced comparable results.
conclusionsThis systematic review identified that the performance of lateral flow devices is heterogeneous and dependent on the manufacturer. Some perform with high specificity but a great range of sensitivities were shown (38.32-99.19%). Test performance does not appear dependent on the operator. Potentially, LFDs could support the scaling up of mass testing to aid track and trace methodology and break the chain of transmission of COVID-19 with the additional benefit of providing individuals with the results in a much shorter time frame.
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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.