COVID-19 Rapid Diagnostic test results and their associations with certain factors among the residents of Balochistan

Background This paper analyses any possible association of various factors like gender, last COVID-19 PCR test results, BCG Vaccination, Seasonal Flu vaccination, Occupation and confirmed case contact history with COVID-19 RDT results of the participants. COVID-19 will soon become endemic in Pakistan, the government should adopt COVID-19 RDT kits for trace, test and quarantine activities. Methodology Considering the availability of COVI-19 rapid diagnostic kits, 596 individuals all previously COVID-19 PCR tested were made part of this cross sectional study. Simple random sampling was used for the selection of study participants. The whole study was conducted during September and October 2020. Results The major findings of this study is clearly showing that the Positive Likely hood ratio of the COVID-19 RDT Kits (LR+) is well above 1; similarly the Negative Likely hood ratio is approaching 0.On the other hand the Sensitivity and Specificity 80% and 74% respectively. Similarly study found statistically significant association was between RDT out comes and Last PCR Test status, Occupation and Contact with COVID-19 positive individuals. While other variables like Gender, BCG Vaccination and history of seasonal flu vaccinations were found to have no significant associations with COVID-19 RDT Kit out comes. Conclusion Being the first study of its kind in Pakistan the major findings of this study are almost in line with the set hypothesis and objectives of this study and based on study findings it will be of high value to use COVID-19 RDT kits during mass screening especially during Test, Trace and Quarantine activities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement No funding was used ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: A local IRB affiliated with Public health Institute of Quetta Balochistan has approved it, the board was chaired by Director General Health services Balochistan.The IRB provided approval on 12/08/2020 and DGHSC-IRB-1234 qta. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes will share data file if asked for it.