Cost–Utility analysis for rapid severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 antigen detection assay in comparison versus real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for laboratory diagnosis of coronavirus disease -2019

Background: The global pandemic of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is still spreading. As a result, rapid, simple, and accurate diagnostics to diagnose severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are urgently needed. For the diagnosis of COVID-19 cases, the performance characteristics of the quick SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection test should be investigated and compared to the gold standard real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. The utility of the antigen detection test is reported from field evaluation. However, an interesting concern is on the utility of the test. Methods: Here, the authors perform a cost utility analysis to appraise rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection assay in comparison versus real-time RT-PCR assay for laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19. Results: According to the analysis, the cost per utility of rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection assay is 3.24 times less than that of comparison versus real-time RT-PCR assay. Conclusion: Hence, it can conclude that rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection assay is appropriate for using for diagnosis of COVID-19 in term of cost–utility.