{Reference Type}: Comparative Study
{Title}: Sensitivity and specificity of malaria rapid diagnostic test (mRDT CareStatTM) compared with microscopy amongst under five children attending a primary care clinic in southern Nigeria.
{Author}: Ogunfowokan O;Ogunfowokan BA;Nwajei AI;
{Journal}: Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med
{Volume}: 12
{Issue}: 1
{Year}: Jun 2020 17
暂无{DOI}: 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2212
{Abstract}: <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Malaria diagnosis using microscopy is currently the gold standard. However, malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) were developed to simplify the diagnosis in regions without access to functional microscopy.<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of mRDT CareStatTM with microscopy.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>This study was conducted in the paediatric primary care clinic of the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Nigeria.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>A cross-sectional study for diagnostic accuracy was conducted from May 2016 to October 2016. Ninety-eight participants were involved to obtain a precision of 5%, sensitivity of mRDT CareStatTM of 95% from published work and 95% level of confidence after adjusting for 20% non-response rate or missing data. Consecutive participants were tested using both microscopy and mRDT. The results were analysed using EPI Info Version 7.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A total of 98 children aged 3-59 months were enrolled. Malaria prevalence was found to be 53% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 46% - 60%), whilst sensitivity and specificity were 29% (95% CI = 20% - 38%) and 89% (95% CI = 83% - 95%), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 75% (95% CI = 66.4% - 83.6%) and 53% (95% CI = 46% - 60%), respectively.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Agreement between malaria parasitaemia using microscopy and mRDT positivity increased with increase in the parasite density. The mRDT might be negative when malaria parasite density using microscopy is low.