A study to assess the impact of the cobas point-of-care RT-PCR assay (SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A/B) on patient clinical management in the emergency department of the University of California at Davis Medical Center

Larissa May; Elissa M Robbins; Jesse A Canchola; Kamal Chugh; Nam K Tran

doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2023.105597

A study to assess the impact of the cobas point-of-care RT-PCR assay (SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A/B) on patient clinical management in the emergency department of the University of California at Davis Medical Center

J Clin Virol. 2023 Nov:168:105597. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2023.105597. Epub 2023 Sep 18.

Authors

Larissa May¹, Elissa M Robbins², Jesse A Canchola², Kamal Chugh², Nam K Tran³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, California, USA.
² Roche Molecular Systems, Pleasanton, California, USA.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, California, USA. Electronic address: nktran@UCDAVIS.EDU.

PMID: 37742483
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2023.105597

Abstract

Background: Rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for reduction of transmission and clinical decision-making. Several rapid (<30 min) molecular point-of-care (POC) tests based on nucleic acid amplification exist for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B infections.

Methods: This unblinded, pre-post study enrolled consecutive patients with symptoms/signs consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection presenting to the University of California, Davis emergency department (ED). Outcomes following implementation of the cobas® SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B test for use on the cobas Liat System (intervention: December 2020-May 2021) were compared with previous standard-of-care using centralized laboratory reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods (control: April 2020-October 2020).

Results: Electronic health records of 8879 symptomatic patient visits were analyzed, comprising 4339 and 4540 visits and 538 and 638 positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results in the control and intervention periods, respectively. Compared with the control period, turnaround time (TAT) was shorter in the intervention period (median 0.98 vs 12.30 h; p < 0.0001). ED length of stay (LOS) was generally longer in the intervention period compared with the control period, but for those SARS-CoV-2-negative who were admitted, ED LOS was shorter (median 12.53 vs 17.93 h; p < 0.0001). The rate of antibiotic prescribing was lower in the intervention than in the control period (42.86% vs 49.16%; p < 0.0001) and antiviral prescribing was higher (7.64% vs 5.49%; p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: This real-world study confirms faster TAT with a POC RT-PCR method in an emergency care setting and highlights the importance of rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection to aid patient management and inform treatment decisions.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Influenza; Molecular testing; PCR; Point-of-care; SARS-CoV-2.