Medical diagnosis important despite self-tests

No one can rely on self-test

16/12/2014

According to a press release of the Federal Association of German Pharmacy Associations, patients who have purchased self-tests in the pharmacy and then used them should have their results confirmed by a doctor. “A self-test does not replace a medical diagnosis”, says Gabriele Overwiening, Member of the Managing Board of the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists. „However, the self-collected measurements can help to detect possible disease risks or to control the course of a disease. At the pharmacy, patients are also advised on which test results require a medical examination.” Nevertheless, the interpretation of the results for laymen could be difficult.

Application errors lead to unreliability of the tests
In addition, the reliability of the tests, even in the context of application errors in use questionable and often overrated by the users. A 99 percent safety e.g. means that one in a hundred results is wrong.

The common cause of incorrect results is the incorrect application of the test. For example, there are problems with obtaining test materials such as blood or urine. To obtain blood, for example, one should pierce the fingertip laterally. The hands should be thoroughly washed and dried. In addition, one should not press on the finger, as this cell water can get into the sample and thus could falsify the result. For urine, it is important to catch the center jet so that it does not contaminate the sample with bacteria or blood.

Generally, the ghosts part in the so-called self-tests. In connection with the self-tests for HIV available in pharmacies in France starting in 2015, there are both advocates and opponents. Thus, the proponents hope to reach people who are unknowingly infected. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) estimates the number of these persons in Germany at about 14 000. „Out of every 10,000 HIV negatives tested, they get a false positive result, even though they are not infected“, DAH continues. Basically you need therefore "in a positive test result necessarily a confirmatory test, which laymen who rely on a self-test, may not take into account." (Jp)