Article Text
Abstract
Objectives To assess the values of and attitudes towards the use of rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detection tests for self-testing in a rural and an urban area in Peru.
Design Cross-sectional, street-based population survey.
Setting A series of over 400 randomly selected street points in Valle del Mantaro and in Lima.
Participants 438 respondents (203 female) participated. They were all older than 17 years and provided informed consent for participation.
Intervention All respondents answered on the spot, a 35-item questionnaire developed in KoboToolbox.
Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcomes of interest were: likelihood to use a SARS-CoV-2 self-test; willingness to pay for a SARS-CoV-2 self-test and likelihood to comply with recommended actions following a positive SARS-CoV-2 self-test result. Bivariate analyses and Poisson regression (PR) analyses were performed to identify significant associations between dependent variables and independent variables pertaining to respondents’ characteristics, risk perception and previous experiences with conventional COVID-19 testing.
Results Of the 438 respondents, 51.49% had previous experience with conventional COVID-19 testing; 20.37% had COVID-19 disease; 86.96% accepted the idea of SARS-CoV-2 self-testing; and, 78.95% would be likely to use it if needed. Almost all (94.75%) would pay for a self-testing device (mean acceptable payment: US$10.4) if it was not provided free of charge by health authorities. Overall, 93.12%, 86.93% and 85.32% would self-isolate, report the results and warn their contacts, respectively. Being a female (adjusted PR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.09, p<0.018), having completed secondary education (adjusted PR 1.18, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.37, p<0.024) and expressing likelihood to use self-testing (adjusted PR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.16, p<0.0.24) could be predictors of willingness to pay for a self-test.
Conclusions Self-testing is perceived as an acceptable approach. Health authorities in Peru should facilitate access to this approach to complement healthcare facilities-led testing efforts for COVID-19. Future research is necessary to understand the impact of self-testing in case detection and pandemic control.
- COVID-19
- EPIDEMIOLOGY
- PUBLIC HEALTH
Data availability statement
Data are available on reasonable request. Data will be available on reasonable request by contacting the corresponding author in this article.
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
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Data availability statement
Data are available on reasonable request. Data will be available on reasonable request by contacting the corresponding author in this article.
Footnotes
Contributors SS, EIR and GZM-P developed the initial research project. CC and PSMS adapted research protocol and led study implementation in Peru. GZM-P, SS and CC wrote the manuscript. PSMS, PPO and PAT-S coordinated data collection. GZM-P, AM, DB and AB performed data analyses. All authors have reviewed the manuscript and contributed to its conduct. SS and EIR act as guarantor.
Funding This work was supported with funding provided by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) through KfW (grant number n/a).
Disclaimer The funders played no role in the study design; in the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; in writing the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.