{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T11:17:00Z","timestamp":1788434220998,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO\/EMRO)","issue":"8","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["East Mediterr Health J."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Urine-based rapid diagnostic tests offer a non-invasive alternative for malaria diagnosis; however, their use has not been evaluated in Faisalabad, Pakistan.\nAim: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of a urine-based rapid diagnostic test for detecting Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum infections in Faisalabad, Pakistan.\nMethods: From January 2023 to December 2024, we collected and analysed laboratory samples from 360 febrile patients aged \u22655 years, with clinical symptoms suggestive of malaria, at a district headquarters hospital in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. We analysed the data using SPSS version 25 and used Cohen\u2019s kappa coefficient to assess the inter-test reliability agreement between blood- and urine-based rapid diagnostic tests.\nResults: Of the 360 participants, microscopy identified Plasmodium vivax in 216 (60.0%) cases, Plasmodium falciparum in 108 (30.0%), and mixed infections in 36 (10.0%). Blood-based rapid diagnostic tests showed higher positive predictive value than urine-based tests (94.3% vs 85.2%) and higher sensitivity. Overall agreement between tests was 91.1% (Cohen\u2019s kappa = 0.83).\nConclusion: Urine-based rapid diagnostic tests showed good agreement with blood-based tests, providing a practical non-invasive option for malaria screening in this setting. Further multicentre studies are recommended.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.26719\/2026.32.8.535","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T10:37:50Z","timestamp":1788431870000},"page":"535-539","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Diagnostic performance of urine-based rapid diagnostic malaria tests in Pakistan"],"prefix":"10.26719","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Rashid","family":"Ali","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Asrar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salma","family":"Sultana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amna","family":"Sajjad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"11263","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"container-title":["Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/applications.emro.who.int\/EMHJ\/1020-3397-2026-3208-535-539-eng.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T10:37:50Z","timestamp":1788431870000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/applications.emro.who.int\/EMHJ\/1020-3397-2026-3208-535-539-eng.pdf"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.26719\/2026.32.8.535","relation":{},"ISSN":["1020-3397","1687-1634"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1020-3397","type":"print"},{"value":"1687-1634","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]}}}