Table 1.
Summary of global pooled testing studies-Validation of pooled testing in different clinical settings. Pooling works with maximum efficiency in prevalence <3% with pool size <10)
| Study setting | Location | Sample size | Sample type | Prevalence (%) | Optimum Pool size | Reduction in tests (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pooling samples before RNA extraction | ||||||
| (Abdalhamid et al., 2020b) | Nebraska, US | 60 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 1 | 11 | 80 |
| (Abid et al., 2020) | Tunisia, North Africa | 800 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <1 | 10 | 80 |
| (Agoti et al., 2020) | Kilifi, Kenya | 1500 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <4 | 6 | 53.3 |
| (Barak et al., 2020) | Jerusalem, Israel | 133816 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 1-6 | 5,8 | 76 |
| (Lohse et al., 2020) | Homburg, Germany |
1191 | Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal swabs | 1.93 | 30 | 78 |
| (Hogan et al., 2020) | San Francisco Bay Area, California, US | 2888 | Nasopharyngeal and bronchoalveolar lavage swabs | 0.07 | 9, 10 | 77 |
| (Ben-Ami et al., 2020) | Jerusalem, Israel | 26576 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 0.23 | 8 | 85 |
| (de Salazar et al., 2020) | Spain | 3519 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 6.86 | 10 | 61.57 |
| (Barat et al., 2020) | Maryland, Washington D.C., US | 449 | Saliva | 5 |
5 | 40 |
| (Ho et al., 2021) | Hong Kong, China | 55 | Deep throat saliva | 0.39 | 5 | - |
| (Borillo et al., 2020) | California, US |
101 | Nasopharyngeal, midturbinate swabs | ≤10 | 4 |
- |
| (Chen et al., 2020) | Wuhan, China | 23 | Oropharyngeal swabs | - | 6,10 | - |
| (Chhikara et al., 2021) | Chandigarh, India | 500 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <2 | 10 | 69 |
| (Chong et al., 2020) | Melbourne, Australia | 29000 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <0.5 | 8 | 87.5 |
| (Cleary et al., 2020) | Massachusetts, US | 960 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 3.1 | 48 | 65 |
| (Das et al., 2020) | Maryland, US | 7000 | Nasal mid-turbinate and nasopharyngeal swabs | 0.11 | 10 | 89 |
| (Graham et al., 2021) | Melbourne, Australia | 31 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <5 | 4,6 | >50 |
| (Hirotsu et al., 2020) | Tokyo, Japan | 555 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 3.6 | 5,10 |
47 |
| (Kim et al., 2020) | Seoul, Jeonju, South Korea | 350 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | - | 2-16 | - |
| (Li et al., 2020) | Hainan, China | 944 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | Airport | 10 | 87.6 |
| (Lim et al., 2020) | Malaysia | 1745 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | <5 | 10 | 57 |
| (Mastrianni et al., 2020) | New York, US | 530 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 1-2 | 3 | 67 |
| (Mohanty et al., 2020) | Odisha, India | 7228 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 3.5 | 4 | 64.2 |
| (More et al., 2021) | Oklahoma, US | 630 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <8 | 5 | 52.5 |
| 10 | 45 | |||||
| (Mutesa et al., 2021) | Rwanda, East Africa | 1280 | Oropharyngeal swabs | 2 | 20 | - |
| (Perchetti et al., 2020) | Seattle, US | 160 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <8 | 4 | - |
| (Praharaj et al., 2020) | India | 1000 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | - | 5 10 |
- |
| (Procop et al., 2021) | Ohio, US | 20 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 0.5 | 10 | |
| (Salimnia et al., 2021) | Detroit, US | 15 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 2 | 6 | 70 |
| (Singh et al., 2020) | Madhya Pradesh, India | 545 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 4.8 | 5 | 70 |
| (Shental et al., 2020) | Beer-Sheva, Israel | 1115 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 1 | 48 | 87.1 |
| (Thanh et al., 2021) | Da Nang, Vietnam | 96123 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <1 | 5 | 77 |
| (Torres et al., 2020) | Valencia, Spain | 40 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | - | 5, 10 | - |
| (Volpato et al., 2020) | Porto Alegre, Brazil | 220 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | - | 10 | - |
| (Wang et al., 2020) | San Francisco Bay, California, US | 1648 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 19.1 | 4, 8 |
47 |
| (Watkins et al., 2020) | New Haven, US | Saliva | >3 <1 |
5, 10, 20 | - | |
| (Yelin et al., 2020) | Haifa, Israel | 388 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | - | 32 | - |
| (Denny et al., 2020) | Duke University, Durham, North Carolina | 10265 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | ≤0.1 | 5 | 90 |
| (Schneitler et al., 2020) | Homburg, Germany | 25978 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 0.9 | 10 | 91 |
| Pooling extracted RNA | ||||||
| (Pasomsub et al., 2020) | Bangkok, Thailand | 200 | Saliva | 9 | 5 | 47.5 |
| (Deka et al., 2020) | Uttarakhand, India | 102 | - | 4.1 | 20 | 40 |
| (Farfan et al., 2020) | Chile, South America | 63 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 10 | 5 | - |
| (Gupta et al., 2020) | New Delhi, India | 280 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | - |
8 |
85 |
| (Eis-Hübinger et al., 2020) | Freiburg, Bonn, Leipzig, Regensburg, Frankfurt (Germany) | 700 | Pharyngeal swabs, sputum, broncho-alveolar lavage fluid | - | 10 | 99.89 |
| (Cabrera Alvargonzalez et al., 2020) | Spain | 100 60 |
Nasopharyngeal swabs | 2 1.7 |
20 | 77 |
| Sub Pool 5 | 80 | |||||
| (Khodare et al., 2020) | New Delhi, India |
55 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 4 | 6 | 63 |
| (Freire-Paspuel et al., 2020) | Galapagos, Equador | 114 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | <5 | 3 | - |
| Pooling at the time of collection in a single VTM tube | ||||||
| (Christoff et al., 2021) | Brazil | 19535 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 1.26 | 16 | 77 |
| (Alcoba-Florez et al., 2020) | Tenerif, Spain | 4475 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | 5 | 5 | 62 |
| (Garg et al., 2020) | Lucknow, India | 19570 | Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal swabs | <5 | 5 | 76 |
| 10 | 93 | |||||
| (Griesemer et al., 2021) | New York, US | 20 | Upper respiratory swab | <1.5 | 5, 9 | 75 |
| (Agarwal et al., 2021) | Delhi, India |
230 | Nasopharyngeal swabs | - | 5 | 70 |
| Pooling directly into lysis buffer | ||||||
| (Schmidt et al., 2020) | Frankfort, Germany | 100 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 2 | 5, 10 | 40 |
| (Wacharapluesadee et al., 2020) | Bangkok, Thailand | 99 | Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs | 0.1-10 | 10 | 80 |
‘-’ indicates that studies that did not report prevalence rate at the time of testing and the resources saved