ArticleLancet regional health. Americas2024
The population-level impact of introducing rapid diagnostic tests on syphilis transmission in Canadian arctic communities - a mathematical modeling study.
Article in Lancet regional health. Americas, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Evaluating the Impact of Implementing and Scaling-Up the Use of Syphilis Rapid/Point-of-Care Tests: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis of New Syphilis Positivity Rates in Alberta, Canada.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Beyond behavioural change: prioritising structural solutions to control bacterial sexually transmitted infections.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Review
- Syphilis Point-of-Care Tests (POCTs): Implementation Considerations in Canada.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Canadian Arctic communities have experienced sustained syphilis transmission, with diagnoses rates 18-times higher than the national average. Remoteness from laboratory facilities leads to delays between syphilis screening and treatment, contributing to onward transmission. Rapid diagnostic tests can eliminate treatment delays via testing at the point-of-care. This study aims to describe syphilis diagnostic gaps and to estimate the impact of introducing rapid diagnostic tests at the point-of-care on syphilis transmission. Methods: To assess the population-level impact of deploying rapid diagnostic tests, an individual-based model was developed using detailed surveillance data, population surveys, and a prospective diagnostic accuracy field study. The model was calibrated to syphilis diagnoses (2017-2022) from a community of approximately 1,050 sexually active individuals. The impacts of implementing rapid diagnostic tests using whole blood (sensitivity: 92% for infectious and 81% for non-infectious syphilis; specificity: 99%) from 2023 onward was calculated using the annual median fraction of cumulative new syphilis infections averted over 2023-2032. Findings: The median modeled syphilis incidence among sexually active individuals was 44 per 1,000 in 2023. Males aged 16-30 years exhibited a 51% lower testing rate than that of their female counterparts. Maintaining all interventions constant at their 2022 levels, implementing rapid diagnostic tests could avert a cumulative 33% (90% credible intervals: 18-43%) and 37% (21-46%) of new syphilis infections over 5 and 10 years, respectively. Increasing testing rates and contact tracing may enhance the effect of rapid diagnostic tests. Interpretation: Implementing rapid diagnostic tests for syphilis in Arctic communities could reduce infections and enhance control of epidemics. Such effective diagnostic tools could enable rapid outbreak responses by providing same-day testing and treatment at the point-of-care. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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