Those older than 60 years, reporting other than excellent health, and having higher trust in health care system were more to test<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Seventy percent of U.S. adults would conduct a home test for suspected COVID-19, according to a study published online June 30 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Kimberly A. Fisher, M.D., from UMass Chan Medical School in Worchester, and colleagues examined current intent to test for COVID-19 in a cross-sectional online national survey conducted among U.S. adults between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, 2024.<\/p>\n A total of 2,009 individuals responded to the question on COVID-19 self-testing. The researchers found that 70.0 percent of respondents said they would test if they suspected COVID-19. In a multivariate analysis, a higher likelihood of testing was seen for those older than 60 years; identifying as non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, or other or multiple race, non-Hispanic; reporting other than excellent health; having higher trust in the health care system; strongly agreeing that they depend on numbers to make decisions about health; and having previously completed a COVID-19 home test. Reasons for not or possibly not testing included not seeing a reason to test (53.6 percent), believing it would not be helpful to know if they were COVID-19 positive (30.1 percent), not trusting test results (20.7 percent), preferring not to know (9.1 percent), not knowing where to get a test (5.8 percent), and being unable to afford a test (4.9 percent).<\/p>\n “Test hesitancy may delay oral antiviral initiation and could result in missed opportunities to limit transmission,” the authors write. “Efforts are needed to increase awareness of the value of testing.”<\/p>\n