Pilot study of participant-collected nasal swabs for acute respiratory infections in a low-income, urban population

Vargas, Celibell Y; Wang, Liqun; Castellanos de Belliard, Yaritza; Morban, Maria; Diaz, Hilbania; Larson, Elaine L; LaRussa, Philip; Saiman, Lisa; Stockwell, Melissa S

There were limitations to this study. Although there was high compliance with returning the self-swab samples, and all participants reported returning them within 2 days, there was wide variation in arrival time of mailed samples. It is not known whether participants sent samples later than reported, whether the postal service was slow, or whether the sample was delayed in the University's central mailing office. In addition, this pilot study was conducted concordantly with an ongoing ARI/ILI surveillance study in which participants observed the research assistant perform the nasal swab, which may have improved self-swab technique. In this study, however, the research assistant was not present when the self-swab was taken, and it is both feasible and ideal to first instruct participants of the proper technique in a self-swab study. Further, participants were provided a round-trip New York City MetroCard (value US$5.00) for their time and effort; other populations might be less inclined to participate for this incentive or without an incentive. However, other studies, including those from other countries, have also demonstrated high compliance with self-swabs. [15] [16] [17] This pilot study took place in a single community and should be repeated with a larger and more diverse population within this geographical area, as well as with populations from other geographical areas. A strength of this study is that there was the direct comparison of self-swab samples with research samples from the same participant.