Table 1. Proportion of pan-Plasmodium positive samples detected by each PCR compared with the ‘final positive’ samples.
| PCR methods | Positivity a | P b | Kappa b | Sensitivity b | Specificity b |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%; 95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | |||
| 18S-nPCR | 32 (1.1; 0.7–1.5) | <0.01 | 0.65 | 49.2 (36.6–61.9) | 100 (99.9–100) |
| 18S-qPCR-R | 441 (14.8; 13.6–16.1) | <0.01 | 0.17 | 76.9 (64.8–86.5) | 86.6 (85.3–87.8) |
| 18S-qPCR-K | 69 (2.3; 1.8–2.9) | 0.48 | 0.86 | 89.2 (79.1–95.6) | 99.6 (99.3–99.8) |
| cytb-nPCR | 61 (2.0; 1.6–2.6) | 0.13 | 0.97 | 93.8 (85.0–98.3) | 100 (99.9–100) |
| cytb-qPCR | 67 (2.3; 1.7–2.8) | 0.50 | 0.98 | 100 (94.5–100) | 99.9 (99.8–100) |
| ‘final positive' | 65 (2.2; 1.7–2.8) | - | - | - | - |
a Proportion of samples positive in the pan-Plasmodium screening of field samples (N = 2977).
b The p value, kappa value, sensitivity and specificity were calculated by comparing individual PCRs with the ‘final positive’ samples defined as positivity in at least two of the five PCR methods.