. 2011 Aug;49(8):1317-1322. Show
doi: 10.1515/CCLM.2011.211. Affiliations
The utility of six over-the-counter (home) pregnancy testsLaurence A Cole. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2011 Aug. AbstractBackground: The home pregnancy market is rapidly evolving. It has moved from detection of pregnancy on the day of missed menstrual bleeding, to detection claims 4 days prior. It is moving from all manual tests to digital tests, with a monitor reading the bands and informing women they are pregnant. A thorough study is needed to investigate the validity of claims and evolving usefulness of devices. Methods: Studies were proposed to examine the sensitivity and specificity of home tests and their abilities to detect pregnancy. Methods examined the abilities of tests to detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), hyperglycosylated hCG, free β-subunit, a mixture of these antigens in 40 individual early pregnancy urines. Results: Using a mixture of hCG, hyperglycosylated hCG and free β-subunit typical for early pregnancy, the sensitivity of the First Response manual and digital tests was 5.5 mIU/mL, while the sensitivities of the EPT and ClearBlue brand manual and digital tests was 22 mIU/mL. On further evaluation, the First Response manual and digital tests both detected 97% of 120 pregnancies on the day of missed menstrual bleeding. The EPT manual and digital devices detected 54% and 67% of pregnancies, respectively, and the ClearBlue manual and digital devices detected 64% and 54% of pregnancies, respectively. Conclusions: First Response manual and digital claim >99% detection on the day of missed menses. The results here suggest similar sensitivity for these two tests. The EPT and ClearBlue manual and digital test make similar >99% claims, the data presented here disputes their elevated claim. Similar articles
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Can a Digital First Response pregnancy test be wrong?99% accurate at detecting typical pregnancy hormone levels. Note that hormone levels vary.
How sensitive is the First Response Digital pregnancy test?FIRST RESPONSE™ detects the pregnancy hormone 6 days sooner than the day of you missed period (5 days before the day of missed period). > 99% accurate at detecting typical pregnancy hormone levels.
What level hCG does First Response Digital detect?Clearblue (manual and digital tests): 22 mIU/ml. e.p.t. (manual and digital tests): 22 mIU/ml. First Response Early Results: 6.3 mIU/ml.
Is First Response Digital more sensitive?After additional research and testing, we continue to recommend First Response Early Result, which remains the most sensitive home pregnancy test of its kind. We still think Clearblue Digital is the best choice if you prefer a digital wand test.
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