Feasibility of a novel self-collection method for blood samples and its acceptability for future home-based PrEP monitoring
Cannon et al.
The finding, in our words
The Tasso OnDemand device was well accepted by participants, with nearly all finding it easy to use and feeling confident they could self-sample at home, and paired self-collected and clinician-collected specimens showed high agreement for HIV, syphilis and creatinine tests. While most users collected enough serum for two monitoring tests, only a third produced sufficient volume for three tests, suggesting a larger-volume device may be preferable for full guideline-recommended PrEP monitoring.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In a cohort of 62 participants evaluating home self-collection with the TassoPlus device, 38 returned samples, with 29% excluded due to insufficient plasma volume below 200 ΔL. Although viral load measurements in adequate samples correlated well with conventional testing (r = 0.800), the high failure rate and missed detection in low-volume viremic samples indicate that further technical refinements are necessary before clinical adoption.
The Tasso+ device, which uses a vacuum to collect capillary blood from the upper arm, gathered an average of 536 microlitres of whole blood from 47 men who have sex with men using PrEP, with 91% of samples sufficient for HIV testing and 89% for syphilis testing. Acceptability was high, with 87% expressing a positive attitude and 77% willing to use the device again for home self-sampling.
Goense et al., Sexually transmitted diseases (paywalled) · source ↗
In 30 adult solid organ transplant recipients, capillary blood self-collected using the Tasso+ device showed 91% concordance with venous samples for detecting CMV DNAemia above the limit of detection, with excellent quantitative correlation (Spearman R² = 0.99). Most participants preferred self-collection over venipuncture, suggesting the device could enable decentralised viral monitoring, though sensitivity was lower (95% at 308 IU/mL).
Capillary blood self-testing using the Hem-Col device demonstrated excellent correlation (r=0.992) and perfect agreement (kappa=1) with venous blood for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Feasibility was markedly lower in participants aged 65 or more, who successfully collected the recommended volume in 62.5% of cases versus 86.2% in younger adults, suggesting older people need additional support such as telephone guidance or assistance from family for home-based sampling to be reliable.
Baggio et al., Practical laboratory medicine · source ↗
Capillary blood self-sampling achieved 98.3% agreement with venous samples for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies and 100% for IgA among 60 participants, demonstrating accuracy for vaccine monitoring. Saliva self-collection proved feasible with excellent usability, offering a patient-centric alternative for decentralised immunogenicity assessment.
Schmetzer et al., Frontiers in public health · source ↗