Characteristics of included studies. All studies aimed to identify individuals currently infected with SARS-CoV-2. The reference standard was RT-PCR performed in the laboratory setting (created by the authors)
| Study identifier | Publication status (year) | Study design | Setting | Purpose of testing | Location (recruitment period) | Name of index test | Total number of study participants | Paediatric study participants | Funding/potential COI | |||
| (n) | Male (%) | Symptomatic (%) | Age (years) | |||||||||
| Akingba*et al 35 | Preprint (2021) | Cross-sectional | Community testing site (mobile clinic) | D | South Africa (Nov 20) | Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test | 667 | 41 | 39.0 | 100† | Median: 13,‡ IQR: 10–16,‡ range: 3–17‡ | None/none |
| Bianco*et al 37 | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Hospital ED, hospital unit | nr | Italy (Oct–Dec 20) | LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 Ag Test | 907§ | 165 | nr | 9.7 | Mean: 7.2, range: 0–18 | None/none |
| Dřevinek* et al 38 | Preprint (2020) | Cross-sectional | Hospital TC | D, A, S | Czech Republic (Oct 20) | 1: Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test 2: Standard F COVID-19 FIA Ag | 591 | 31 | 38.7‡ | 32.3‡ | Median: 15,‡ IQR: 13.5–16,‡ range: 11–17‡ | Public/none |
| González-Donapetry et al 24 | published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Hospital ED | D | Spain (Sept–Oct 20) | Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test | 440 | 440 | 59.1 | 100† | Median: 3, IQR: 1–7, range:0–15 | None/none |
| Homza* et al 41 | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Hospital TC | D, A | Czech Republic (nr) | ECOTEST COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test | 494 | 24 | 58.3 | 45.8 | Mean: 13.17, SD: 2.79, range: 7–17 | Public/none |
| Kiyasu* †† et al 54 | Preprint (2021) | Cohort | Hospital TC | nr | Japan (Oct 20–Jan 21) | QuickNavi COVID-19 Ag | 1881 | 90 | 68.9 | 4.4 | Median: 12,‡ IRQ: 6–15,‡ range: 0–17‡ | Private/yes |
| L’Huillier et al 25 | Preprint (2021) | Cross-sectional | Hospital TC | D, A, S | Switzerland (Nov 20–Mar 21) | Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test | 885 | 885 | 50.1 | 64.8 | Median: 11.8, IQR: 9.0–14.3, range: 0–16 | Public/none |
| Möckel et al 26 | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Hospital ED | D | Germany (Oct–Nov 20) | Roche SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test | 483 | 196‡‡ | 55 | 87.1 | Median: 3, IQR: 1–9 | Public/none |
| Pilarowski et al 27 | Published (2020) | Cross-sectional | Community testing site | S | USA (Nov–Dec 20) | BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card | 3320 | 209 | nr | nr 30.9¶ | ≤18 (47%<13) | Public, private/yes |
| Pollock et al 28a | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Community testing site | S | USA (Oct–Dec 20) | BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card | 2482 | 928 | 47.0‡ | 10.7 | ≤18 (69%‡ ≤ 13) | Public/none |
| Pollock et al 29b | Preprint (2021) | Cross-sectional | Community testing site | S | USA (Jan 21) | CareStart COVID-19 Antigen test | 1603 | 253 | 46.2‡ | 12.6 | ≤18 (62%‡ ≤ 13) | Public/none |
| Prince-Guerra et al 30 | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Community testing site | S | USA (Nov 20) | BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card | 3419 | 236 | nr | nr 24.2¶ | Range: 10–17 | nr/none |
| Shah* et al 48 61 | Published (2021) | Cohort | Community testing site | S | USA (Nov–Dec 20) | BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card | 2024 | 217 | nr | 53.4‡ | Range: 5–17 | Public/none |
| Sood et al 31 | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Community testing site | S, A | USA (Nov–Dec 20) | BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card | 1429 | 783 | 49.5 | 23.5 | Range: 5–17, 65%: 5–12, 35%: 13–17 | Public, private/yes |
| Takeuchi*†† et al 50 | Published (2021) | Cohort | Hospital TC | D, A | Japan (Oct–Dec 20) | QuickNavi COVID-19 Ag | 1208 | 164 | 61.6 | 54.9 | Median: 10,‡ IQR: 5-14, ‡ range: 0-17‡ | Private/yes |
| Torres* et al 51 | Published (2021) | Cross-sectional | Hospital TC | A | Spain (Oct–Nov 20) | Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test | 634 | 73 | 47.9 | 0** | Median: 13, range: 9–17 | None/none |
| Villaverde et al 32 | Published (2021) | Cohort | Hospital ED | D | Spain (Sept–Oct 20) | Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test | 1620 | 1620 | nr | 100† | Range: 0–16 | Public/none |
A: testing of asymptomatic individuals and at increased risk of infection due to previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2; D: diagnostic testing of symptomatic individuals; S: screening of individuals irrespective of symptoms (e.g. mass testing, pretravel testing).
*Study included due to unpublished paediatric study data obtained from author via author queries.
†Not explicitly stated, but as per inclusion criteria only study participants who are symptomatic.
‡Own calculation.
§Analysis population (total number of study participants not reported).
¶Value reported for whole study population.
**Not explicitly stated, but as per inclusion criteria only study participants who are asymptomatic.
††The study reported by Kiyasu et al 54 is specified as ‘extension study’ of a previous study reported by Takeuchi et al.50 Both studies were included in this systematic review and considered as two separate studies due to different but overlapping recruitment periods, substantial differences in the proportion of paediatric study participants who were symptomatic and differences in how discordant RT-PCR test results were re-evaluated.
‡‡The overall paediatric study population as defined by the authors consisted of n=202 individuals and included n=6 adult chaperones.
COI, conflicts of interest; Hospital ED, hospital emergency department; Hospital TC, hospital test centre; nr, not reported; RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.