Point-of-care testing: state-of-the art and perspectives

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is becoming an increasingly popular way to perform laboratory tests closer to the patient. This option has several recognized advantages, such as accessibility, portability, speed, convenience, ease of use, ever-growing test panels, lower cumulative healthcare costs when used within appropriate clinical pathways, better patient empowerment and engagement, and reduction of certain pre-analytical errors, especially those related to specimen transportation. On the other hand, POCT also poses some limitations and risks, namely the risk of lower accuracy and reliability compared to traditional laboratory tests, quality control and connectivity issues, high dependence on operators (with varying levels of expertise or training), challenges related to patient data management, higher costs per individual test, regulatory and compliance issues such as the need for appropriate validation prior to clinical use (especially for rapid diagnostic tests; RDTs), as well as additional preanalytical sources of error that may remain undetected in this type of testing, which is usually based on whole blood samples (i.e., presence of interfering substances, clotting, hemolysis, etc.). There is no doubt that POCT is a breakthrough innovation in laboratory medicine, but the discussion on its appropriate use requires further debate and initiatives. This collective opinion paper, composed of abstracts of the lectures presented at the two-day expert meeting "Point-Of-Care-Testing: State of the Art and Perspective" (Venice, April 4-5, 2024), aims to provide a thoughtful overview of the state-of-the-art in POCT, its current applications, advantages and potential limitations, as well as some interesting reflections on the future perspectives of this particular field of laboratory medicine.

Urine dipstick for screening plasma glucose and bilirubin in low resource settings: a proof-of-concept study

Objectives

The purpose of this proof-of-concept study was to investigate whether a commercially available urine dipstick may provide potentially useful information for screening plasma glucose and bilirubin in human plasma samples.

Methods

Glucose and bilirubin were assayed in 60 anonymized lithium-heparin residual plasma samples using the Roche COBAS 8000 or after pipetting 10 µL of plasma onto the pads of a commercial urine dipstick. Semiquantitative urine test results obtained with the dipstick were directly compared to paired test results obtained with COBAS.

Results

Median plasma glucose values between COBAS and dipstick were slightly different (5.8 vs. 5.6 mmol/L; p=0.040), while no significant difference was found in bilirubin values between COBAS and dipstick (11.2 vs. 8.6 μmol/L; p=0.090). The Spearman's correlation between COBAS and dipstick was 0.83 (95% CI, 0.73-0.90; p<0.001) for plasma glucose and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.66-0.87; p<0.001) for plasma bilirubin, respectively. Cumulative agreement between COBAS and dipstick was high for both glucose (88%; kappa statistic statistics, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.58-0.92; p<0.001) and bilirubin (88%; kappa statistics, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.60-0.92; p<0.001).

Conclusions

The results of this proof-of-concept study indicate that the commercial urine test strip used in our study provides acceptable performance for screening plasma glucose and bilirubin levels compared with reference laboratory assays.

Uso de una tira reactiva paraorina en la evaluación de las concentraciones de glucosa y bilirrubina en plasma en entornos con recursos limitados: un estudio de prueba de concepto

Objetivos

El objetivo del presente estudio de prueba de concepto, era investigar si una tira reactiva comercial para orina aporta información potencialmente útil para la evaluación de glucosa y bilirrubina en muestras de plasma humano.

Métodos

Se determinaron las concentraciones de glucosa y bilirrubina en 60 muestras anonimizadas de plasma residual de heparina de litio, en un analizador Roche COBAS 8000 y en la tira reactiva comercial para orina, tras pipetear 10 µL de plasma, en las almohadillas que ésta incorpora. Se llevó a cabo una comparación directa entre los resultados semicuantitativos de la tira reactiva y los de las muestras pareadas obtenidos con el analizador COBAS.

Resultados

Se observaron leves diferencias entre el analizador COBAS y la tira reactiva en relación a la mediana de la concentración de glucosa (5,8 frente a 5,6 mmol/L, respectivamente; p=0,040). Por otro lado, no se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en los valores de bilirrubina entre COBAS y la tira reactiva (11,2 frente a 8,6 μmol/L; p=0,090). El coeficiente de correlación de Spearman entre COBAS y la tira reactiva fue de 0,83 (IC 95 %, 0,73–0,90; p<0,001) para la glucosa en plasma, y 0,78 (IC 95 %, 0,66–0,87; p<0,001) para la bilirrubina en plasma. La concordancia acumulada entre COBAS y la tira reactiva fue alta tanto para la glucosa (88 %; coeficiente kappa, 0.75; IC 95 %, 0,58–0,92; p<0,001) como para la bilirrubina (88 %; coeficiente kappa, 0,76; IC 95 %, 0,60–0.92; p<0,001).

Conclusiones

Los resultados del estudio de prueba de concepto indican que la tira reactiva comercial para orina de nuestro estudio posee un rendimiento aceptable en la determinación de las concentraciones de glucosa y bilirrubina en plasma, en comparación con las pruebas analíticas de referencia.

A Fuzzy Hybrid MCDM Approach for Assessing the Emergency Department Performance during the COVID-19 Outbreak

The use of emergency departments (EDs) has increased during the COVID-19 outbreak, thereby evidencing the key role of these units in the overall response of healthcare systems to the current pandemic scenario. Nevertheless, several disruptions have emerged in the practical scenario including low throughput, overcrowding, and extended waiting times. Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies for upgrading the response of these units against the current pandemic. Given the above, this paper presents a hybrid fuzzy multicriteria decision-making model (MCDM) to evaluate the performance of EDs and create focused improvement interventions. First, the intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IF-AHP) technique is used to estimate the relative priorities of criteria and sub-criteria considering uncertainty. Then, the intuitionistic fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (IF-DEMATEL) is employed to calculate the interdependence and feedback between criteria and sub-criteria under uncertainty, Finally, the combined compromise solution (CoCoSo) is implemented to rank the EDs and detect their weaknesses to device suitable improvement plans. The aforementioned methodology was validated in three emergency centers in Turkey. The results revealed that the most important criterion in ED performance was ER facilities (14.4%), while Procedures and protocols evidenced the highest positive D + R value (18.239) among the dispatchers and is therefore deemed as the main generator within the performance network.

The response of total testing process in clinical laboratory medicine to COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

Following a pandemic, laboratory medicine is vulnerable to laboratory errors due to the stressful and high workloads. We aimed to examine how laboratory errors may arise from factors, e.g., flexible working order, staff displacement, changes in the number of tests, and samples will reflect on the total test process (TTP) during the pandemic period.

Materials and methods

In 12 months, 6 months before and during the pandemic, laboratory errors were assessed via quality indicators (QIs) related to TTP phases. QIs were grouped as pre-, intra- and postanalytical. The results of QIs were expressed in defect percentages and sigma, evaluated with 3 levels of performance quality: 25^th, 50^th and 75^th percentile values.

Results

When the pre- and during pandemic periods were compared, the sigma value of the samples not received was significantly lower in pre-pandemic group than during pandemic group (4.7σ vs. 5.4σ, P = 0.003). The sigma values of samples transported inappropriately and haemolysed samples were significantly higher in pre-pandemic period than during pandemic (5.0σ vs. 4.9σ, 4.3σ vs. 4.1σ; P = 0.046 and P = 0.044, respectively). Sigma value of tests with inappropriate IQC performances was lower during pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period (3.3σ vs. 3.2σ, P = 0.081). Sigma value of the reports delivered outside the specified time was higher during pandemic than pre-pandemic period (3.0σ vs. 3.1σ, P = 0.030).

Conclusion

In all TTP phases, some quality indicators improved while others regressed during the pandemic period. It was observed that preanalytical phase was affected more by the pandemic.

A systematic review of health sector responses to the coincidence of disasters and COVID-19

BACKGROUND

In December 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan reported a novel pneumonia caused by COVID-19. While the COVID-19 pandemic has been increasingly affecting the world, the occurrence of disasters resulted in complex emergencies. The present review is aimed to identify the literature focused on health system response to coincidence of COVID-19 and disasters as well as describing their finding, implications and lessons-learned.

METHODS

This study was conducted and reported based on PRISMA guideline. The databases of Web of Sciences, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and World Health Organization Library were searched. The inclusion criteria were all forms of published articles which investigated the coincidence of disasters and COVID-19 pandemic. Using the title and abstract screening, the selections of studies were performed by two researchers. Once, the relevant papers were finalized, the analysis was done in two parts of descriptive analysis and implications for health systems.

RESULTS

Out of 1245 studies generated by initial search, a number of 13 articles was selected for final analysis. Earthquake was the most frequent disaster which its coincidence with COVID-19 was studied by researchers (31%). The implications of researchers for healthcare system were explained in three sections of climatic events, earthquakes and all hazard approach in relation to COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

Extracting the lessons learned from the regions affected by disasters at the time of COVID-19 pandemic can be helpful for healthcare professionals and policy-makers to improve their preparedness and response during disasters and a serious pandemic such as COVID-19. Further research is needed to identify the factors which strengthen the preparedness of health system for the dual risk of natural hazards and pandemics.

Vulnerability of point-of-care test reagents and instruments to environmental stresses: implications for health professionals and developers

Strategic integration of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tools during crisis response can accelerate triage and improve management of victims. Timely differential diagnosis is essential wherever care is provided to rule out or rule in disease, expedite life-saving treatment, and improve utilization of limited resources. POC testing needs to be accurate in any environment in which it is used. Devices are exposed to potentially adverse storage and operating conditions, such as high/low temperature and humidity during emergencies and field rescues. Therefore, characterizing environmental conditions allows technology developers, operators, and responders to understand the broad operational requirements of test reagents, instruments, and equipment in order to improve the quality and delivery of care in complex emergencies, disasters, and austere environmental settings. This review aims to describe the effects of environmental stress on POC testing performance and its impact on decision-making, to describe how to study the effects, and to summarize ways to mitigate the effects of environmental stresses through good laboratory practice, development of robust reagents, and novel thermal packaging solutions.

Hemoglobin point-of-care testing: the HemoCue system

Besides the use of traditional laboratory resources, the diagnosis of anemia can also be accomplished by assessing hemoglobin (Hb) concentration with point-of-care testing (POCT) devices such as the HemoCue test systems. In several situations, these devices might suitably replace traditional laboratory testing, including several areas of health care where a very rapid Hb measurement might be required to make immediate therapeutic decisions. The use of these devices, however, should fulfill some basic criteria, including economic, clinical, and regulatory issues; appropriate training of the users and knowledge of test requirements, performance, limitations, and potential interferences; the use of venous and arterial sampling, when possible; and a rigorous quality assessment, which should be under the responsibility of laboratory professionals. Because of its optimal performance along with the fact that the HemoCue is probably one of the most commonly used devices worldwide, the aim of this article is to review the literature data about the performance of this test system as compared with laboratory reference testing estimations and according to the biological matrix.

Assessing Point-of-Care Device Specifications and Needs for Pathogen Detection in Emergencies and Disasters

BACKGROUND: We assessed point-of-care device specifications and needs for pathogen detection in urgent care, emergencies, and disasters. METHODS: We surveyed American Association for Clinical Chemistry members and compared responses to those of disaster experts. Online SurveyMonkey questions covered performance characteristics, device design, pathogen targets, and other specifications. RESULTS: For disasters, respondents preferred direct sample collection with a disposable test cassette that stores biohazardous material (P<0.001). They identified methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae as high priority pathogens. First responders were deemed the professional group who should perform POC testing in disasters (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Needs assessment now is requisite for competitive funding, so the results in this report will be useful to investigators preparing grant applications. Point-of-care devices used in disasters should address the needs of first responders, who give high priority to contamination-free whole-blood sampling, superior performance pathogen detection, and HIV-1/2 blood donor screening. There was surprising concordance of preferences among different professional groups, which presages formulation of global consensus guidelines to assist high impact preparedness.