In the paper, Performance of a Vaginal Panel Assay Compared With the Clinical Diagnosis of Vaginitis - which reports the findings from a BD clinical trial the three causes of vaginitis (bacterial vaginosis [BV], vulvovaginal candidiasis [VVC] or Trichomonas vaginalis [TV]) were studied to compare clinician assessment with results from a molecular test. The study found that compared to the molecular test, clinician diagnosis missed 45.3 percent of positive cases (180 of 397) and incorrectly identified 12.3 percent of negative cases as positives (123 of 879).
The study was also selected for inclusion in the
Between 6 million and 10 million health care visits by women in the
'A misdiagnosis means inappropriate treatment recommendations - either undertreatment or overtreatment,' said study co-author
The study compared clinician diagnosis of vaginitis to results of a vaginal panel assay performed on the BD MAX System, an FDA-market authorized molecular test that uses nucleic acid amplification to detect the microbial causes of BV, VVC, and TV. The study involved 489 symptomatic participants. Participants received a clinical diagnosis and had a vaginal assay swab collected during their visit. Swabs were sent to a separate testing facility and later compared to clinician diagnosis.
'We really do women a medical disservice when we do not use the best tools we have available to diagnose the cause or causes of the symptoms that drove them to seek health care,' said study co-author
The BD MAX Vaginal Panel Assay can help address the limitations of clinical diagnosis and can help improve diagnostic accuracy. This automated assay has a shorter turnaround time (approximately three hours to run between two and 24 samples simultaneously), so same-day results are possible if the clinician has the instrument available on site. Assay automation is designed to decrease variability and subjectivity, thereby helping to increase diagnostic accuracy.
'When a woman is misdiagnosed either way - told that she doesn't have vaginitis but actually does or told that she does have vaginitis but is not infected - it creates hardship and risk,' said Broache. 'Women deserve better.'
About the
About the BD MAX System
The BD MAX System is a fully integrated, automated platform that performs nucleic acid extraction and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), providing results for up to 24 samples across multiple syndromes in approximately three hours. The BD MAX System offers laboratories in vitro diagnostic assays that span women's health and sexually transmitted infections, enteric infections, and healthcare-associated infections, along with an open-system capability and reagents.
About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its 75,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care.
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