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Contact Information:

Dr Tristan Clark
t.w.clark@soton.ac.uk


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Be Part of Research - Trial Details - Does point-of-care testing for coronavirus in hospital improve patient care compared to laboratory testing?
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Does point-of-care testing for coronavirus in hospital improve patient care compared to laboratory testing?

Not Recruiting

Open to: All Genders

Age: Adult

Southampton

Medical Conditions

COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection)

This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


COVID-19 is caused by a virus that infects the respiratory tract of people and makes them unwell. It started in a city in China and has now spread to several other countries around the world, including the United Kingdom. There is no vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 at the moment and governments are trying hard to stop it from spreading by making sure that infected people are identified as soon as possible and kept away from others. To know who has the infection you need to do a test and at the moment this is done in large laboratories within hospitals. Although laboratory testing is accurate, it takes a long time to get results back, leading to long delays in identifying positive cases and in identifying patients who are negative. Companies have developed tests for COVID-19 that can be performed outside of the laboratory and take just one hour to give a result. Having a rapid test result may allow doctors to identify infected patients much more rapidly and to stop the virus from spreading in hospitals. It may also identify those who are not infected much earlier allowing them to be taken out of isolation rooms earlier and sent home quickly, easing pressure on the NHS. Previous studies showed that rapidly testing for viruses close to the patient, rather than in laboratories, leads to improvement in patient care. The aim of this study is to find out whether using a new rapid test for COVID-19 performed near the patient leads to earlier decision making and better care for patients.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

20 Mar 2020 29 Apr 2020

Publications

2020 Results article in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33038974/ results (added 13/10/2020)2021 Results article in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34363885/ SARS-CoV-2 Viral load at presentation to hospital is independently associated with the risk of death (added 09/08/2021)2022 Results article in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35534764/ Combined RT-PCR and Host Response Point-of-Care Testing in Patients Hospitalised with Suspected COVID-19: A Prospective Diagnostic Accuracy Study (added 10/05/2022)2020 Results article in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32579983/ (added 08/04/2024)2020 Other publications in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32998038/ Comparison of patients with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection (added 08/04/2024)

Patients will have a nose and throat swab collected and tested immediately using the new rapid test (QIAstat-Dx Respiratory n-CoV Panel). Results are available in 1 hour and will be communicated immediately to clinical and infection control teams. There is no patient follow up but clinical outcome data are collected retrospectively from case notes for the duration of hospitalisation, up to 30 days later.


Patients aged 18 and over with suspected COVID-19

You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


1. Not fulfilling all the inclusion criteria2. Declines nasal/pharyngeal swabbing3. Consent declined or consultee consent declined4. Already recruited to the study in the last 30 days


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • Southampton General Hospital
    University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Research and Development (R&D) Tremona Road
    Southampton
    SO16 6YD

The potential benefits of the new test are having a rapid result for Covid-19 and other infections which may improve clinical management including the rapid and appropriate use of isolation facilities. Beyond the mild discomfort of having upper respiratory swabs and blood taken, there are not expected to be any significant risks from participating.

Unfortunately, this study is not recruiting public volunteers at this time. This is because the research isn’t ready for volunteers yet or the researchers are directly identifying volunteers in certain areas or hospitals. Please do not contact the research team as they will not be able to respond. For more information about research in general, visit the Be Part of Research homepage.  


The study is sponsored by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and funded by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.



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Read full details for Trial ID: ISRCTN14966673
Last updated 08 April 2024

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