The adoption of point of care testing technologies for respiratory tract infections in primary care in Australia: Challenges and facilitators

• Published in: Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease 2024-12, Vol.110 (4), p.116541, Article 116541
• Main Authors: Jamshidi, Negar, Waine, Melissa, Binet, Monique, Mohan, Vathsala, Carter, David J, Morgan, Branwen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antimicrobial resistance; Antimicrobial stewardship; Australia; Diagnostics; Humans; Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing; Point of care testing; Primary Health Care; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory Tract Infections - diagnosis; Respiratory Tract Infections - drug therapy
• ISSN: 0732-8893; 1879-0070; 1879-0070
• DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116541

•Point-of-care tests (POCTs) can improve patient outcomes.•POCTs reduce antimicrobial use through evidence-based diagnosis.•In Australia, POCTs use for respiratory tract infection (RTI) management is low.•We identified the key challenges preventing wide-scale POCT adoption.•Resourcing, training, QC, device feasibility and patient expectations are crucial. Despite technological advances and readily available point of care test (POCT) devices with rapid turn-around results for respiratory tract infection (RTI) management, their adoption in primary care remains low. This paper summarises the challenges and facilitators of POCT implementation for RTIs in primary care settings in high-income countries. The review of 28 studies identified by systematic searches of electronic databases improves our understanding of the current state and will help guide the design and implementation of strategies to improve widespread POCT adoption. To effectively implement respiratory POCT in primary care, it is crucial to address several key challenges. These include ensuring the availability of resources to alleviate time pressures and costs, enhancing training, increasing quality control, improving device feasibility, and managing patient expectations. In doing so, diagnostic POCTs can contribute to an accurate, rapid, and evidence-based diagnosis of RTIs to reduce antimicrobial use and improve antimicrobial stewardship and patient outcomes.