{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T16:31:25Z","timestamp":1772209885387,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]],"date-time":"2020-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1608076800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Sheares Healthcare Group Pte Ltd"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Self-sampling for SARS-CoV-2 would significantly raise testing capacity and reduce healthcare worker (HCW) exposure to infectious droplets personal, and protective equipment (PPE) use.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a diagnostic accuracy study where subjects with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 (n = 401) and healthy volunteers (n = 100) were asked to self-swab from their oropharynx and mid-turbinate (OPMT), and self-collect saliva. The results of these samples were compared to an OPMT performed by a HCW in the same patient at the same session.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In subjects confirmed to have COVID-19, the sensitivities of the HCW-swab, self-swab, saliva, and combined self-swab plus saliva samples were 82.8%, 75.1%, 74.3% and 86.5% respectively. All samples obtained from healthy volunteers were tested negative. Compared to HCW-swab, the sensitivities of a self-swab sample and saliva sample were inferior by 8.7% (95%CI: 2.4% to 15.0%, p = 0.006) and 9.5% (95%CI: 3.1% to 15.8%, p = 0.003) respectively. The combined detection rate of self-swab and saliva had a sensitivity of 2.7% (95%CI: -2.6% to 8.0%, p = 0.321). The sensitivity of both the self-collection methods are higher when the Ct value of the HCW swab is less than 30. The specificity of both the self-swab and saliva testing was 100% (95% CI 96.4% to 100%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our study provides evidence that sensitivities of self-collected OPMT swab and saliva samples were inferior to a HCW swab, but they could still be useful testing tools in the appropriate clinical settings.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0244417","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]],"date-time":"2020-12-16T16:51:47Z","timestamp":1608137507000},"page":"e0244417","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["The accuracy of healthcare worker versus self collected (2-in-1) Oropharyngeal and Bilateral Mid-Turbinate (OPMT) swabs and saliva samples for SARS-CoV-2"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7870-2879","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Seow Yen","family":"Tan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hong Liang","family":"Tey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ernest Tian Hong","family":"Lim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Song Tar","family":"Toh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yiong Huak","family":"Chan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pei Ting","family":"Tan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sing Ai","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cheryl Xiaotong","family":"Tan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gerald Choon Huat","family":"Koh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Thean Yen","family":"Tan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chuin","family":"Siau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0244417.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104442","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcv.2020.104442","article-title":"A combined oropharyngeal\/nares swab is a suitable alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2","volume":"128","author":"JJ LeBlanc","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Clin Virol"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref002","first-page":"104417","article-title":"Self-collection: An appropriate alternative during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic","volume":"128","author":"MC Wehrhahn","journal-title":"J Clin Virol. 2020"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1283","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMc2016359","article-title":"Saliva or Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimens for Detection of SARS-CoV-2","volume":"383","author":"AL Wyllie","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"issue":"15","key":"pone.0244417.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"841","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa149","article-title":"Consistent detection of 2019 novel coronavirus in saliva","volume":"71","author":"KK To","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clinical Infectious Diseases"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0244417.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e45","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jinf.2020.04.005","article-title":"Saliva is a reliable tool to detect SARS-CoV-2","volume":"81","author":"L Azzi","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Infect"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0244417.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e145","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jinf.2020.05.071","article-title":"Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 detection in nasopharyngeal swab and saliva","volume":"81","author":"S Iwasaki","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Infect"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0244417.ref007","first-page":"565","article-title":"Temporal profiles of viral load in posterior oropharyngeal saliva samples and serum antibody responses during infection by SARS-CoV-2: an observational cohort study","volume":"20","author":"KK To","journal-title":"Lancet Infect Dis. 2020"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"465","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2020.00465","article-title":"Saliva as a Candidate for COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing: A Meta-Analysis","volume":"7","author":"LM Czumbel","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Med (Lausanne)"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Young BE, Ong SWX, Ng LFP, Anderson DE, Chia WN, Chia PY et al. Immunological and Viral Correlates of COVID-19 Disease Severity: A Prospective Cohort Study of the First 100 Patients in Singapore (4\/15\/2020). Available at SSRN: https:\/\/ssrn.com\/abstract=3576846 or https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2139\/ssrn.3576846","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3576846"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref010","unstructured":"Position Statement from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and the Chapter of Infectious Disease Physicians, Academy of Medicine, Singapore\u2013 23 May 2020"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref011","article-title":"Sensitivity of nasopharyngeal swabs and saliva for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)","author":"AJ Jamal","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0244417.ref012","article-title":"Comparing nasopharyngeal swab and early morning saliva for the identification of SARS-CoV-2","author":"M Rao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0244417","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]],"date-time":"2020-12-16T16:52:04Z","timestamp":1608137524000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0244417"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Dong-Yan","family":"Jin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0244417","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/2020.09.17.20197004","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]]}}}