Accuracy of rapid diagnostic test to diagnose malaria in children under 5 years of age, a meta-analysis

Abstract Objective To assess the accuracy of the rapid diagnostic test for malaria diagnosis in children under 5 years of age. Methods As of August 31, 2020, PubMed, Web of science and Cochrane Library databases had been systematically searched. Relevant data were extracted and meta-analysis was carried out. A random effects model was used for subgroup analysis. Results According to the inclusion criteria, a total of 26 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.92 (95% confidence interval 0.83-0.96) and 0.92 (0.86-0.95), the parasite-specific lactate dehydrogenase-based test were 0.96 (0.85-0.98) and 0.93 (0.86-0.95), the histidine-rich protein 2-based test were 0.94 (0.84-0.98) and 0.86 (0.77-0.91). Conclusions This meta-analysis showed that rapid diagnostic test had good accuracy in diagnosing malaria in children under 5 years of age. And the diagnostic performance of parasite-specific lactate dehydrogenase test was better than that of the histidine-rich protein 2 test.