Use of At-Home COVID-19 Tests — United States, August 23, 2021–March 12, 2022
Open accessAbstract
more than tripled from 5.7% to 20.1%. The two most commonly reported reasons for testing among persons who used an at-home test were COVID-19 exposure (39.4%) and COVID-19-like symptoms (28.9%). At-home test use differed by race (e.g., self-identified as White [5.9%] versus self-identified as Black [2.8%]), age (adults aged 30-39 years [6.4%] versus adults aged ≥75 years [3.6%]), household income (>$150,000 [9.5%] versus $50,000-$74,999 [4.7%]), education (postgraduate degree [8.4%] versus high school or less [3.5%]), and geography (New England division [9.6%] versus West South Central division [3.7%]). COVID-19 testing, including at-home tests, along with prevention measures, such as quarantine and isolation when warranted, wearing a well-fitted mask when recommended after a positive test or known exposure, and staying up to date with vaccination,** can help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Further, providing reliable and low-cost or free at-home test kits to underserved populations with otherwise limited access to COVID-19 testing could assist with continued prevention efforts.
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Equitable vaccination coverage requires higher levels of coverage among those most at risk at the intersection of SARS-CoV-2 exposures, severity, and onward transmission.
“Equitable vaccination coverage requires higher levels of coverage among those most at risk at the intersection of SARS-CoV-2 exposures, severity, and onward transmission(44-48).”
From Social inequalities in COVID-19 death by area-level income in 11.2 million people in Ontario, Canada: patterns over time and the mediating role of vaccination. (2026) · cites this paper as [46]
The Discussion addresses equitable access to at-home COVID-19 testing and recommends staying up to date with vaccination. It does not address whether equitable vaccination coverage requires higher coverage among people at the intersection of exposure, severity, and onward-transmission risks (searched for that formulation and for vaccination prioritization of high-risk groups). (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Research works printed but not linked: 8
- [1]Mercer TR, Salit M. Testing at scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nat Rev Genet 2021; 22: 415– 26. 10.1038/s41576-021-00360-w 33948037 PMC8094986 · DOI
- [2]Rubin R. COVID-19 testing moves out of the clinic and into the home. JAMA 2021; 326: 1362– 4. 10.1001/jama.2021.15679 34550303 · DOI
- [5]Jean S, Burnham CD, Chapin K, At-home testing for infectious diseases: the laboratory where you live. Clin Chem 2021; 68: 19– 26. 10.1093/clinchem/hvab198 34969103 · DOI
- [6]Crozier A, Rajan S, Buchan I, McKee M. Put to the test: use of rapid testing technologies for covid-19. BMJ 2021; 372: n208. 10.1136/bmj.n208 33536228 · DOI
- [7]Iuliano AD, Brunkard JM, Boehmer TK, Trends in disease severity and health care utilization during the early Omicron variant period compared with previous SARS-CoV-2 high transmission periods—United States, December 2020–January 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022; 71: 146– 52. 10.15585/mmwr.mm7104e4 35085225 PMC9351529 · DOI
- [8]Rader B, White LF, Burns MR, Mask-wearing and control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the USA: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Digit Health 2021; 3: e148– 57. 10.1016/S2589-7500(20)30293-4 33483277 PMC7817421 · DOI
- [9]Rader B, Astley CM, Sy KTL, Geographic access to United States SARS-CoV-2 testing sites highlights healthcare disparities and may bias transmission estimates. J Travel Med 2020; 27: taaa076. 10.1093/jtm/taaa076 32412064 PMC7239151 · DOI
- [10]Graham MS, May A, Varsavsky T, Knowledge barriers in a national symptomatic-COVID-19 testing programme. PLOS Glob Public Health 2022; 2: e0000028. 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000028 PMC10022193 36962066 · DOI
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Link-Gelles, R., Levy, M. E., Gaglani, M., Irving, S. A., Stockwell, M., Dascomb, K., DeSilva, M. B., Reese, S. E., Liao, I.-C., Ong, T. C., et al. (2022) · MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report · doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7129e1 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Wang, L., Swayze, S., Bodner, K., Calzavara, A., Harrigan, S. P., Siddiqi, A., Baral, S. D., Austin, P. C., Smylie, J., Koh, M., et al. (2026) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwaf051 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Rader, B., Gertz, A., Iuliano, A. D., Gilmer, M., Wronski, L., Astley, C. M., Sewalk, K., Varrelman, T. J., Cohen, J., Parikh, R., Reese, H. E., Reed, C., & Brownstein, J. S.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- General Dynamics (United States) (US)
- SurveyMonkey (United States) (US)
- Broad Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rader, Benjamin
- ORCID
- Venue
- MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
- Published
- 2022-04-01
- Volume
- 71
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 489-494
- ISSN
- 0149-2195 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-861X
- PMC
- PMC8979595
- OpenAlex
- W4220921782
- Cited by
- 223
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 39
- FWCI
- 25.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK120899)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Keywords
- COVID-19 testing, COVID-19 exposure, COVID-19-like symptoms, racial disparities, household income, educational attainment, regional variation, underserved populations, access to testing, COVID-19 prevention
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Testing, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, United States
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