SARS-CoV-2 Testing at Home – Perspectives from Potential Home Users

To assist in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Institutes of Health Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic RADxSM Tech program (RADx Tech), identified potentially impactful non-traditional settings for SARS-CoV-2 testing. To better understand the SARS-CoV-2 testing expectations in one of these settings, the home, qualitative inquiries were held with eleven potential home users. The inquiries offered insights on testing preferences for COVID-19, both inside and outside the home, as well as preferences for testing attributes including sample type, accuracy, and time to result. These individuals preferred at-home testing, and accuracy was perceived as the most important attribute. The home users’ reactions described in this paper provide developers and process planners with insights for designing tests for the home use setting.