Taking charge of your health with home testing

If you’ve been to the drugstore lately, you may have noticed an increase in the number of medical tests that you can use in the privacy of your home.
Advances in technology – and changing attitudes towards patients’ responsibility for their own healthcare – have made home testing very common and popular worldwide. In fact, the word “patient” itself is gradually disappearing. People are now calling themselves as “health consumers” and they are taking charge of their own health care.
TESTS AVAILABLE FOR HOME USE
Home tests can be used to screen for, diagnose, or monitor disease. Most are available over-the- counter (OTC) in local supermarkets or pharmacies or directly from manufacturers through online purchases, although a few home tests must be prescribed by a healthcare practitioner (for example, those that monitor anticoagulants).
There are a variety of tests cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for home use.
Some are used for screening, such as pregnancy tests, hepatitis C test, drug tests, or faecal occult blood testing for colorectal cancer. Others are monitoring tests such as cholesterol tests, prothrombin time for blood-thinning and clotting, and blood glucose for diabetes.
Some home tests like those for pregnancy and blood glucose produce immediate results.
HOME TESTS ARE CONVENIENT, TIMELY BUT NOT PERFECT
Although home tests offer convenience, privacy and “real time” results, those results are meant for your private information only. They do not qualify as official test results that could be recorded in your medical record or be acted on by a healthcare practitioner. Results that are used for medical decision-making and recorded as part of your medical history, must be performed by a laboratory or medical professional. Therefore, your doctor is likely to repeat the test that you’ve already done at home before acting on the result.
Errors can arise with home tests because of a number of possible mistakes. These range from using an expired kit to improper storage to errors in how you perform the test. Mistakes in the testing procedure often involve how you collect the sample, the day you collect it, or how precisely you time the test (not waiting long enough or waiting too long before reading the result). Even the impact of medication you may be taking may interfere with the results and may be a source of error to be considered.
THE FUTURE OF HOME TESTING
Over the past few decades, healthcare has become decentralised. With better and more advanced technology, the testing formats will be easier to perform and more accurate. The first-generation tests like prothrombin time (used to monitor anticoagulants) will lead to improved second and third- generation devices.
One of the biggest benefits of home medical devices is connectivity. They are not completely wireless but can be used to store data and show individual health trends.
In the future, a day will come, when your doctor may be able to plug these devices into the computer and analyse your results. Or you may be able to use devices that sync with your own computer and smartphone, prompting them to issue regular reminders to take a reading. There are already applications that take blood pressure and electrocardiogram readings. Smartphones may be used for many more tests in the future. Researchers have developed mobile applications and device attachments that analyse blood, saliva or urine samples for cholesterol, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other conditions.
CONSUMERS NEED TO BE CAREFUL
Many manufacturers are promoting home tests on the Internet. This could be risky, unless you are well informed about which tests and sites are legitimate and which are bogus. Consumers need to be watchful about unapproved home test kits that may be advertised on the web or in magazines.
If you use home tests, protect yourself against the possibility of bogus tests, false results, and your own lack of training by following these guidelines:
1) Make sure that the test/device you are purchasing is FDA-approved.
2) Check the expiry date.
3) Follow the package directions on where and how to store the test kit.
4) Note and follow any special precautions before performing the test.
5) Perform the tests exactly as directed.
6) Make sure that you understand the meaning of the test results and what to do about them.
Home testing offers a way for you to test for medical conditions in the privacy of your homes and to monitor chronic health conditions. But you also need to understand that despite it being convenient, the home tests are prone to erroneous results and need to be confirmed by laboratory tests.
(The writer is Senior Consultant Pathologist and Managing Director, BABINA Diagnostics, Imphal)