Appendix Table 3.
Specificity of QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT) in Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG)–Vaccinated and Non–BCG-Vaccinated Patients with an Expected Low Prevalence of Tuberculous Infection*
| Study, Year (Reference) |
Industry Supported?† |
Sample | Setting | Not BCG Vaccinated or Predominantly Nonvaccinated | BCG Vaccinated or Predominantly Vaccinated | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients, n | QFT | TST | Patients, n | QFT | TST | ||||||||
| False- Positive Result, n |
Specificity, % | False- Positive Result, n |
Specificity, % | False- Positive Result, n |
Specificity, % | False- Positive Result, n |
Specificity, % | ||||||
| Brock et al., 2001 (35) | Yes | Predominantly adults |
Denmark | 15 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 100 | 19 | 2 | 89 | 9 | 53 |
| Mori et al., 2004 (7) | Yes | Predominantly adults |
Japan | – | – | – | – | – | 213 | 4 | 98.1 | 73/113 | 35 |
| Ravn et al., 2005 (9) | Yes | Predominantly adults |
Denmark | – | – | – | – | – | 39 | 1 | 97 | NR | NR |
| Brock et al., 2004 (36) | Yes | Adults and children |
Denmark | 40 | 2 | 95 | 3 | 93 | 32 | 2 | 94 | NR | NR |
| Kang et al., 2005 (10)‡ | Yes | Adults only | South Korea | – | – | – | – | – | 99 | 4 | 96 | 50 | 49§ |
| Taggart et al., 2006 (37) | NR | Adults only | United States | 81 | 0 | 100 | 3 | 96 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Lee et al., 2006 (11)‡ | Yes | Predominantly adults |
South Korea | – | – | – | – | – | 131 | 11 | 91.6 | 28 | 78.6§ |
| Kobashi et al., 2006 (15) | No | Predominantly adults |
Japan | – | – | – | – | – | 50 | 3 | 94 | 18 | 64 |
| Palazzo et al., 2008 (24) | NR | Predominantly adults | Italy | 13 | 0 | 100 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Bua et al., 2007 (18) | NR | Adults only | Italy | 16 | 0 | 100 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mazurek et al., 2007 (38) | Yes | Adults only | United States | 544 | 1 | 99.8 | 9 | 98.4§ | – | – | – | – | – |
| Franken et al., 2007 (39) | NR | Adults only | The Netherlands | 171 | 5 | 97.1 | 9/145 | 93.8§ | – | – | – | – | – |
| Soborg et al., 2007 (40) | Yes | Adults only | The Netherlands | – | – | – | – | – | 139 | 2 | 98.6 | 47 | 66.2|| |
| Detjen et al., 2007 (25) | No | Children only | Germany | 22 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 100§ | – | – | – | – | – |
NR = not reported; TST = tuberculin skin test.
*
Participants were healthy volunteers from the general population, students, or recruits with no history of exposure to tuberculosis.
†
“Industry support” refers to any industry involvement or support (e.g., sponsorship, donation of test kits, participation in advisory boards, and involvement of test developers or ownership of patents).
‡
Because South Korea is an intermediate-incidence country, some of the low-risk participants may have been latently infected.
§
Cutoff value ≥10 mm.
||
Cutoff value ≥12 mm.