DECIDE-POCT
DECIDE-POCT: What works in point-of-care testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, for whom, and at what cost
Decentralized point-of-care testing means testing delivered where people already are, in community organizations, prisons, pharmacies or clinics, rather than through a central laboratory. Decision-makers planning such programs need to know which approaches work, for whom, at what cost, and under which conditions they succeed. DECIDE-POCT consolidates that evidence across HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections so that the three fields learn from one another.
Synthesize the effectiveness of point-of-care testing for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections.
Assess its cost-effectiveness across settings and populations.
Identify the barriers, facilitators and implementation strategies that shape success in practice.
Integrate the findings into a framework to guide decentralized testing programs in Canada.
The four systematic reviews are underway: effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, barriers and facilitators, and implementation strategies for point-of-care testing of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs).
A staged programme of evidence synthesis feeds into framework development. The reviews are led by the lab's postdoctoral fellows, research coordinator and doctoral students, with the lab's medical librarian.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of effectiveness
- Systematic review of cost-effectiveness
- Systematic review of barriers and facilitators
- Systematic review of implementation strategies
- An integrated framework for decentralized STBBI testing programs
International collaborators including the Kirby Institute (UNSW Sydney) and pan-Canadian STBBI networks.
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Collaborations and trainee projects on evidence synthesis for point-of-care testing.