Table 1.
Operating characteristics of diagnostics for placental malaria
| Diagnostic test | Plasmodium falciparum prevalence, % (n/N) | Contingency analysis* | Latent class analysis | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity, % (95% CI) | Specificity, % (95% CI) | Sensitivity, % (95% CI) | Specificity, % (95% CI) | ||
| Peripheral | |||||
| Microscopy | 3.53 (25/709) | 20.51 (11.55–29.47) | 98.85 (98.01–99.70) | 26.03 (16.19–35.87) | 99.68 (99.17–100) |
| RDT | 18.65 (133/713) | 79.49 (70.53–88.45) | 89.25 (86.80–91.70) | 92.74 (84.41–100) | 91.83 (89.24–94.42) |
| PCR | 5.32 (36/677) | 34.21 (23.54–44.88) | 98.28 (97.23–99.34) | 38.56 (27.02–50.10) | 99.51 (98.86–100) |
| Histopathology† | 11.27 (78/692) | NA | NA | 77.75 (65.13–90.37) | 98.03 (96.64–99.42) |
| Placental | |||||
| Microscopy | 0.85 (6/709) | 7.79 (1.81–13.78) | 100 (99.40–100) | 6.35 (1.35–11.35) | 100 (99.98–100) |
| RDT | 12.64 (90/712) | 66.23 (55.67–76.80) | 93.98 (92.10–95.86) | 79.31 (68.37–90.25) | 97.55 (95.98–99.12) |
| PCR | 10.57 (74/700) | 64.38 (53.40–75.37) | 95.89 (94.32–97.47) | 78.46 (66.97–89.95) | 99.45 (98.33–100) |
| Histopathology† | 11.13 (77/692) | NA | NA | 69.36 (57.70–81.02) | 97.76 (96.37–99.15) |
CI = confidence interval; NA = not applicable; PCR = polymerase chain reaction; RDT = rapid diagnostic test.
*
Estimated with active placental histopathology as the reference diagnostic standard.
†
A positive histopathologic analysis defined as showing evidence of acute/chronic infection.