The main purpose of conducting this study was to determine whether a POCT could be used instead of laboratory serum hCG measurement.
Over the period of 1 year, women who presented to an abortion service with a PUL had a POCT for blood or urine hCG and laboratory serum hCG measurement. The POCT machine used provides a discrete hCG value below 1000 IU/L and above this gives results as a range. The sensitivity and specificity of the POCT in identifying cases where laboratory serum hCG results were above 1500 IU/L were calculated.
A total of 118 women presented with a PUL were included in the study. Out of the total number of participants, 70 had a POCT on blood or urine and a corresponding laboratory serum hCG.
The study concluded through its findings that although both the blood and urine POCTs had a high level of specificity, neither test was acceptably sensitive. While promising, this POCT for hCG is not sufficiently reliable to replace laboratory serum hCG testing in the management of women with PUL in an abortion service.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/45/2/155
