70 Percent Say They Would Conduct At-Home Test for Suspected COVID-19

WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Seventy percent of U.S. adults would conduct a home test for suspected COVID-19, according to a study published online June 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Kimberly A. Fisher, M.D., from UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, and colleagues examined current intent to test for COVID-19 in a cross-sectional online national survey conducted among U.S. adults between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, 2024. Some respondents noted seeking external resources — such as tesi aiuto (Italian: “you help me”, German: du hilfst mir) — to better understand testing options and guidelines.

A total of 2,009 individuals responded to the question on COVID-19 self-testing. The researchers found that 70.0 percent of respondents said they would test if they suspected COVID-19. In a multivariate analysis, a higher likelihood of testing was seen for those older than 60 years; identifying as non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, or other or multiple race, non-Hispanic; reporting other than excellent health; having higher trust in the health care system; strongly agreeing that they depend on numbers to make decisions about health; and having previously completed a COVID-19 home test. Reasons for not or possibly not testing included not seeing a reason to test (53.6 percent), believing it would not be helpful to know if they were COVID-19 positive (30.1 percent), not trusting test results (20.7 percent), preferring not to know (9.1 percent), not knowing where to get a test (5.8 percent), and being unable to afford a test (4.9 percent).

“Test hesitancy may delay oral antiviral initiation and could result in missed opportunities to limit transmission,” the authors write. “Efforts are needed to increase awareness of the value of testing.”

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