Smith, Louise E;
Potts, Henry;
Amlôt, Richard;
Fear, Nicola T;
Michie, Susan;
Rubin, James;
(2022)
Who is engaging with lateral flow testing for COVID-19 in the UK? The COVID-19 Rapid Survey of Adherence to Interventions and Responses (CORSAIR) study.
OSF Preprints: Charlottesville, VA, USA.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To investigate rates of uptake of lateral flow testing and reporting of test results in England and Scotland, and the psychological, contextual, and socio-demographic factors associated with testing. Design: Series of four fortnightly online cross-sectional surveys. Setting: Data collected 19 April to 2 June 2021. PARTICIPANTS: People who lived in England and Scotland, aged 18 years or over, excluding people who reported their most recent test was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test (n=6646, n≈1,600 per wave). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Having completed at least one lateral flow test (LFT) to see whether you have COVID-19 in the last seven days. RESULTS: We used binary logistic regressions to investigate psychological, contextual and socio-demographic factors associated with lateral flow testing at least once in the last week. Increased uptake of testing was associated with being younger, female, living with a dependent child, being employed and being vaccinated. Work- and study-related factors such as having been out to work in the last week, working in a sector that adopted LFT early, and being a student were also associated with increased uptake. People who reported COVID-19 symptoms in the last week were more likely to have taken a test, as were those who had heard more about regular LFT, knew they were eligible to receive regular LFT, and agreed that LFTs were accurate and an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Factors associated with not taking a test included agreeing that you do not need to test for COVID-19 unless you have come into contact with a case, and that people who have been vaccinated do not need to be tested regularly. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that uptake of lateral flow testing is low. Encouraging testing and making testing easy through workplaces and places of study are likely to increase uptake, although care should be taken not to pressurise employees and students. Increasing knowledge that everyone is eligible for regular asymptomatic testing may drive uptake, as should communications that testing is important regardless of whether people think they have come into contact with a COVID-19 case and that people who have been vaccinated should still test regularly.
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