Abstract
Objectives
The aim of this study was to evaluate the time in days between symptom onset and first positive real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) result for COVID-19.
Methods
This systematic review was conducted in the MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, and Scopus databases using the following descriptors: “COVID-19”, “SARS-CoV-2”, “coronavirus”, “RT-PCR”, “real time PCR”, and “diagnosis”.
Results
The included studies were conducted in 31 different countries and reported on a total of 6831 patients. The median age of the participants was 49.95 years. The three most common symptoms were fever, cough, and dyspnea, which affected 4012 (58.68%), 3192 (46.69%), and 2009 patients (29.38%), respectively. Among the 90 included studies, 13 were prospective cohorts, 15 were retrospective cohorts, 36 were case reports, 20 were case series, and six were cross-sectional studies. The overall mean time between symptom onset and positive test result was 6.72 days. Fourteen articles were analyzed separately for the temporal profile of RT-PCR test results; the best performance was on days 22-24, when 98% of test results were positive.
Conclusion
These findings corroborate the RT-PCR COVID-19 testing practices of some health units. In addition, the most frequently described symptoms of these patients can be considered the initial symptoms of infection and used in decision-making about RT-PCR testing.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, systematic review, RT-PCR, COVID-19, Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Infection, Symptom, cough, database, Case series, COVID-19 testing, Fever, Dyspnea, Patient, Cross-sectional studies, patients, RT-PCR test, initial symptom, symptom onset, RT-PCR testing, median age, cohorts, participant, positive test result, article, positive, retrospective cohorts, objective, country, first positive, polymerase chain, health units, real-time reverse transcriptase, Result, described, analyzed, affected, evaluate, reported, addition, conducted, the MEDLINE, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, polymerase chain, real-time reverse transcriptase,