This is part I of a two-part series. Come back next week for part II.
What do pregnancy tests, STD tests, and blood tests have in common? Each one is available as an at home testing kit—meaning you can get a diagnosis for a disease or condition without stepping foot into a doctor’s office. For those who don’t work in the healthcare industry or don’t stock pharmacy shelves, it may be a bit of a surprise to hear about all the different illnesses that ordinary people can test for in the comfort of their own home. Some even provide near-instant results. It’s kind of like Uber for the medical industry. Only instead of providing rides or delivering food, these laboratories-in-a-box are delivering quick diagnoses and, in some cases, a chat with a doc and Rx.
Facts About At Home Testing Kits
Huge plus: the accuracy rate of home testing kits are remarkably high. For many, they range from 95 to 99.5 percent accurate. Other benefits of at home testing are that many types can be purchased without a prescription, there’s no office-visit copay, they’re affordable and extremely convenient.
When you do Covid testing at home or at-home allergy testing, for example, you don’t have to miss work or worry about hidden fees that often come with identical blood or urine tests performed at the doctor’s office, and especially when specimens are sent out to a lab. Most people don’t even know that about half of the at-home rapid testing kits are available over the counter (OTC). In fact, while most Americans are familiar with pregnancy tests and gene-reading kits like 23andMe and AncestryDNA, most are not aware that there are a couple dozen different at home testing kits that provide either fast results, or results delivered by email, text, or phone within a week of your specimen arriving at the lab.
What Are At Home Testing Kits
At home testing kits, also known as direct to consumer (DTC) tests, are products that regular people can buy online or at a pharmacy and use to diagnose a number of different ailments. Some of the top selling DTCs include at home testosterone testing and at home allergy testing kits. Each kit provides a specimen-collection device, such as a cup for urine, a blood-collection card, and vials for saliva. Some kits, like Covid and pregnancy tests, provide patients with their results in less than 30 minutes. But other kits have to be mailed to a lab for analysis. For those, the kit also contains shipping materials and a prepaid mail label.
For self-collection kits, patients get test results in about a week. These mini labs help vulnerable seniors and infants by diagnosing the flu and viruses before the host can spread it, they provide a public service by diagnosing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and help patients get treatment and medication for a variety of conditions. Ultimately, people are drawn to DTCs because they’re affordable and convenient.
Types of At Home Testing Kits
There are two types of at home testing kits: self tests and self-collection tests. Self tests provide results in under 60 minutes. Self-collection kits provide consumers with the materials to collect a sample— such as a specimen collection card, a cup for urine, or a vial for saliva. After the patient produces a sample, they repackage the kit and mail it to the laboratory with a prepaid mail label. After about a week, patients learn their results by email, a phone call from a medical professional, or on an app developed by the manufacturer.
Here are some of the most popular home testing kits available today. And yes, many are FDA-approved and available without a prescription:
At Home Blood Testing
Blood tests are the standard screening protocol for diagnosing a wide range of maladies. If a patient needs a complete blood count panel, or CBC, it’s best to go to a lab where a phlebotomist can collect vials of blood from the vein. But when they want to conduct a limited screening, then an at home blood testing kit suffices.
Home test or self-collection: Home test
Prescription or OTC: OTC
Specimen type: Blood sample
Timeframe for results: About a week
Accuracy rate: It depends on the test.
More information: Since at home blood testing kits only collect drops of blood, the number of conditions the lab can test for are limited. Still, the range of diseases and infections that can be diagnosed without stepping into a doctor’s office is pretty amazing.
One at home cholesterol testing kit by Everlywell can alert patients to a serious heart condition by analyzing biomarkers in the blood for cholesterol, triglycerides, HbA1c levels, and more. For people who engage in risky activities, there are kits that can diagnose several types of STDs. Using a kit from myLab Box, patients can find out if they’re HIV+ (the virus that causes AIDs). Many home testing kit manufacturers have medical professionals available to help patients understand their diagnosis, what steps to take to get treatment and, if applicable, how to avoid spreading the disease or infection they tested positive for. This includes anything from blood sugar testing at home to at home flu testing and food sensitivity testing.
At Home Allergy Testing
These kits evaluate antibodies in the blood for hypersensitivities to substances like mold, animal dander, foods, and certain plants.
Home test or self-collection: Home test
Prescription or OTC: OTC
Specimen type: Blood sample
Timeframe for results: A few weeks
Accuracy rate: Not applicable since these aren’t diagnostic kits
More information: Allergy home testing kits are not as accurate as tests performed by an allergist or immunologist. However, they’re accurate regarding whether a person’s hypersensitivity to one or more substances is low, medium, or high. This is an example of a self-collection test that isn’t designed to diagnose a condition, but rather, make a recommendation regarding whether the patient should pursue more rigorous in-office testing.
At Home Pregnancy Testing
Home pregnancy tests have been around since the late 1970s. They’re so reliable, many women don’t even feel the need to get an in-office blood test to verify the results.
Home test or self-collection: Home test
Prescription or OTC: OTC
Specimen type: Urine sample
Timeframe for results: Several minutes
Accuracy rate: 99%
More information: Women should wait to take a pregnancy test until after they missed at least one period. Pregnancy tests work by analyzing the urine for traces of a hormone that the body only produces during pregnancy. It can take a few weeks before enough hormone accumulates in the body for the test to pick up.
At Home Celiac Disease Testing & Monitoring
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that’s triggered after consuming a type of protein called gluten. It’s found in wheat, barley and rye. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea and gas. Some celiac-disease patients are unable to absorb certain nutrients.
Home test or self-collection: Self-collection
Specimen type: Blood sample
Timeframe for results: For the first test, no earlier than nine weeks following purchase. Since symptoms are triggered by a dietary protein, the test requires patients to eat a gluten-rich diet for six to eight weeks. However, once a patient has their diagnosis, they can do at home celiac disease testing to maintain their condition. In those instances, there is no waiting period to take the test and results are provided a few days after the lab receives the sample.
Accuracy rate: More than 90%
More information: According to the advocacy group, Beyond Celiac, a study that compared the accuracy of a celiac disease test using blood samples drawn from a vein in a lab versus blood-drop samples found 100% agreement between both test results. Imaware and RxHomeTest are two popular manufacturers of celiac disease home testing kits.
Come Back Next Week for ‘At Home Testing Kits’ Part II
Did you enjoy reading about all the different at home testing kits you can buy online or at your local CVS or Walgreens pharmacy? Then you don’t want to miss next month’s blog. We’ll be featuring even more kits you can use to diagnose dozens of different diseases. If you prefer doing things the old fashioned way, we completely support that. Just be sure you know how to navigate the healthcare system so that you don’t get taken for a ride. Check out Decoding Health Insurance and the Alternatives: Options, Issues, and Tips for Saving Money. You’ll get information about what health insurance policies tend to cover and what services they leave on the table.
Also, you should see our Partners Page for a look at additional health-related products and services available to readers. Finally, learn even more about the health insurance landscape by signing up for our newsletter.