Diagnostic Performance of Self-Collected Respiratory Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza Virus in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

BACKGROUND

Reassurance over the quality of self-collected swabs could provide additional evidence to support the self-collection of respiratory specimens as a valid and efficient method in large-scale cohort studies.

METHODS

This study assessed the diagnostic performance of self-collected pooled nasal and throat swabs compared to staff-collected swabs for detecting SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus by RT-PCR in a cohort of older adults (aged 69-87 years) from March to October 2024.

RESULTS

Self-collected swabs demonstrated high sensitivity (95.2% for SARS-CoV-2, 100% for influenza A) and specificity (99.2% and 100%, respectively) against staff-collected swabs. Cycle threshold values showed no statistically significant differences and strong correlations between the two methods.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest self-collected swabs are a reliable alternative for community-based respiratory viruses surveillance in older adults, supporting their use in large-scale studies.