Statistical methods for batch screening of input populations by stage and group in COVID-19 nucleic acid testing

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Abstract

Purpose

To screen for COVID-19 patients in immigration using minimal nucleic acid testing (NAT).

Methods

In the first phase, nasopharyngeal swab samples from the inbound population were numbered and grouped. The samples in the group were mixed together, and a NAT test was performed. When the test result is negative, it means that everyone in the group is not infected and the screening of the group is complete. When the test results were positive, the group moved on to the second stage. In the second stage, all samples in the positive group will be tested individually for NAT.

Results

The advantages and considerations of the method are discussed. Prevalence in the incoming population was a determinant of the sample size within the group. The lower the incidence, the larger the sample size within the group, the higher the savings in NAT and testing costs.

Conclusion

This method has significant efficiency and cost advantages in COVID-19 screening. It can also be used to screen other populations, such as community populations and people at high risk of infection, etc.

Article activity feed

  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.04.02.20050914: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.


    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:

    IdentifierStatusTitle
    NCT12345678Trial number did not resolve on clinicaltrials.gov. Is the number correct?NA


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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