Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41910355›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical microbiology2026

Evaluation of self-collection of nasal swab specimens for COVID-19 diagnostic testing in children in the United States, 2020-2023.

Zachary R Smith, Andrew Godoshian, Peter Boersma, Christy Myrick, Ellen N Kersh, Rebecca J McNall, Erika Mey, Akilah R Ali, Hannah Allen, Gregg Tavolacci and 5 more

Abstract readEvaluation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Zachary R Smith *Office of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Andrew Godoshian *Office of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Peter BoersmaNational Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Maryland, USA.
Christy MyrickOffice of Laboratory Systems and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Ellen N KershOffice of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Rebecca J McNallOffice of Laboratory Systems and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Erika MeyOffice of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Akilah R AliOffice of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Hannah AlleneTrueNorth, Mansfield, Texas, USA.
Gregg TavolaccieTrueNorth, Mansfield, Texas, USA.
Coral MayeTrueNorth, Mansfield, Texas, USA.
Dean L WinslowStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Michael F IademarcoU.S. Public Health Service, Washington, DC, USA.
Marcus SiddallOffice of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Joseph MillerOffice of Readiness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3741-2263

Funding

CDC HHS Pandemic Funding
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a critical need for scalable and efficient diagnostic testing strategies to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, particularly among children. We evaluated the reliability of self-specimen collection in children aged 5-17 years by analyzing two large data sets. First, we examined 78,844 rapid antigen tests conducted at federal sites from 26 May 2023 to 31 January 2024, comparing rates of positive test results among unaccompanied children with a median age of 16. A generalized linear mixed model accounting for site-level variation found no significant difference associated with self-collection versus healthcare worker (HCW) collection (odds ratio = 1.84, IMPORTANCE: This study provides robust evidence supporting the implementation of self-collection of specimens in children, which could significantly enhance testing accessibility and efficiency in public health responses.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 TestingSARS-CoV-2Specimen HandlingAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansMaleRapid Diagnostic TestsReproducibility of ResultsUnited StatesdiagnosticsSARS-CoV-2specimen collection

Identifiers

PMID41910355
PMCPMC13170365

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.