Performance of malaria rapid diagnostic tests as part of routine malaria case management in Kenya

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2009 Mar;80(3):470-4.

Abstract

Data on malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) performance under routine program conditions are limited. We assessed the attributes of RDTs performed by study and health facility (HF) staffs as part of routine malaria case management of patients > or = 5 years of age in Kenya. Expert microscopy was used as our gold standard. A total of 1,827 patients were enrolled; 191 (11.6%) were parasitemic by expert microscopy. Sensitivity and specificity of RDTs performed by study staff were 86.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 79.8-93.5%) and 95.4% (95% CI: 93.9-96.9%), respectively. Among tests performed by HF staff, RDTs were 91.7% (95% CI: 80.8-100.0%) sensitive and 96.7% (95% CI: 92.8-100.0%) specific, whereas microscopy was 52.5% (95% CI: 33.2-71.9%) sensitive and 77.0% (95% CI: 67.9-86.2%) specific. Our findings suggest that RDTs perform better than microscopy under routine conditions. Further efforts are needed to maintain this high RDT performance over time.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Antimalarials / therapeutic use
  • Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination
  • Artemisinins / therapeutic use
  • Case Management
  • Drug Combinations
  • Ethanolamines / therapeutic use
  • Fluorenes / therapeutic use
  • Health Facilities
  • Humans
  • Kenya / epidemiology
  • Malaria / diagnosis*
  • Malaria / drug therapy
  • Malaria / epidemiology
  • Parasitemia / diagnosis
  • Parasitemia / drug therapy
  • Parasitemia / epidemiology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination
  • Artemisinins
  • Drug Combinations
  • Ethanolamines
  • Fluorenes