Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title THE EXPERTS' GUIDE TO HOME HEALTH TESTS: How useful are they? Degree of recognition National Media name/outlet The Australian Media type Web Country/Territory Australia Date 24/03/25 Description Walk down the aisle of any chemist and you'll come across a growing list of home self-testing kits. Vitamin D deficiency, perimenopause, urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted infections are among the conditions to be tested. Go online and there are even more, including at-home cholesterol and blood-glucose testing.
As we all strive to understand our health better, information is key but context is critical.
The Covid pandemic normalised home testing. But, as with Covid, the results of point-in-time home tests may not be as black and white as they seem.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners expert committee on quality care chairman Mark Morgan says the fallibility of Covid tests, which can depend on many factors such as how sensitive the test is and when it is taken, can apply in situations beyond the pandemic.
“Pregnancy self-testing kits have been around for decades,” Morgan says.
“A positive test is life-changing, but a negative test might miss very early pregnancy.”
Home testing is generally carried out through pinprick blood tests or urine testing. Morgan says at a helicopter level this self-testing has its place, with significant caveats.
“Home testing certainly kicks goals for convenience,” Morgan says. “For some tests such as sexually transmitted diseases, home tests also afford some additional privacy. On the flip side, results of tests can be confusing, inaccurate and misleading.
“Imagine doing a self-test that turns out to be falsely reassuring. For example, using a phone app to look at a new dark spot on your skin. If the phone app provides false reassurance it might delay your diagnosis of skin cancer.
“Buying a self-test to engage in some sort of hunt for conditions may well do you more harm than benefit. An example might be selftesting for food allergies that might then lead to a lifetime of restricted diet with no appreciable benefits to health.
“One helpful rule of thumb before doing any test: ‘Will the result change what I do next?'
“There are thousands of blood tests available, but doctors will be highly selective about which ones to recommend because some tests just don't matter.Producer/Author Stephen Lunn Persons Mark Morgan, Paul Glasziou