Filgueiras, Priscilla SoaresCorsini, Camila AmorminoAlmeida, Nathalie Bonatti FrancoPedrosa, Maria Luysa CamargosMiranda, Daniel Alvim Pena deGomes, Sarah Vieira ContinAssis, Jéssica Vieira deSilva, Raphael AntônioMedeiros, Maria Izabella Vieira de Assis Rocha Carvalho deLourenço, Adelina JuniaBicalho, Cecilia Maria FlorencioVilela, Raquel Virgínia RochaJeremias, Wander de JesusFernandes, Gabriel da RochaGrenfell, Rafaella Fortini Queiroz2023-10-202023-10-202023FILGUEIRAS, P. S. et al. Rapid antigen test as a tool for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its potential as a self-testing device. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, v. 56, artigo e0167, 2023. Disponível em: <https://www.scielo.br/j/rsbmt/a/TyFVt3tgWVdztfdrRXKyykG/>. Acesso em: 01 ago. 2023.1678-9849http://www.repositorio.ufop.br/jspui/handle/123456789/17628Background: SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in Wuhan (China) in December (2019) and quickly spread worldwide. Antigen tests are rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) that produce results in 15-30 min and are an important tool for the scale-up of COVID-19 testing. COVID-19 diagnostic tests are authorized for self-testing at home in some countries, including Brazil. Widespread COVID-19 diagnostic testing is required to guide public health policies and control the speed of transmission and economic recovery. Methods: Patients with suspected COVID-19 were recruited at the Hospital da Baleia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The SARS-CoV-2 antigen- detecting rapid diagnostic tests were evaluated from June 2020 to June 2021 using saliva, nasal, and nasopharyngeal swab samples from 609 patients. Patient samples were simultaneously tested using a molecular assay (RT-qPCR). Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values were determined using the statistical program, MedCalc, and GraphPad Prism 8.0. Results: The antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests displayed 98% specificity, 60% sensitivity, 96% positive predictive value, and moderate concordance with RT-qPCR. Substantial agreement was found between the two methods for patients tested < 7 days of symptom onset. Conclusions: Our findings support the use of Ag-RDT as a valuable and safe diagnostic method. Ag-RDT was also demonstrated to be an important triage tool for suspected COVID-19 patients in emergencies. Overall, Ag-RDT is an effective strategy for reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and contributing to COVID-19 control.en-USabertoCovid-19Rapid testSelf-testArtigo publicado em periodicoThis article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Fonte: PDF do artigo.https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0167-2022