Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Test Evaluations

The UK Royal Statistical Society has set up a working group to develop guidelines for assessing COVID-19 tests, the Guardian reports.

It adds that the society suspects there are a number of inadequate tests on the market in the UK because there aren't guidelines regarding what performance metrics they must meet. There are "concerns about a lack of basic statistical evidence on clinical and analytical performance of a number of new diagnostic tests that are available," the RSS says, according to the Guardian.

Because of this, the Guardian reports the RSS is putting together a working group to analyze the various types of tests for SARS-CoV-2, including the gold standard PCR tests. Jon Deeks, who is leading the effort with RSS President Deborah Ashby, tells the Guardian that part of what influences test performance is whether the nose swabs have picked up enough virus and that they will also be factoring the effect of sampling into their analysis. 

"Are we evaluating just the test as it's working in the laboratory, or the testing process as we apply it to a real human being?" he asks, according to the Guardian.