Table 2.
Positive predictive value of malaria rapid diagnostic test by site, age, season, and presence of fever
| Characteristic | N (%)* | Positive predictive value (95% CI) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All sites | Chikhwawa | Thyolo | Ndirande | ||
| Total | 7,202 (100.0) | 77.8 (76.8–78.7) | 77.1 (75.9–78.3) | 78.2 (76.2–80.2) | 80.5 (78.1–82.9) |
| Age group | |||||
| < 1 y | 414 (5.8) | 69.9 (65.5–74.2) | 71.6 (66.5–76.8) | 64.9 (54.0–75.7) | 67.3 (54.9–79.7) |
| 1–5 y | 2,334 (32.4) | 75.6 (73.9–77.3) | 74.7 (72.6–76.9) | 77.0 (73.3–80.7) | 77.9 (73.1–82.6) |
| 6–15 y | 2,278 (31.6) | 81.9 (80.3–83.4) | 80.6 (78.6–82.7) | 82.5 (79.2–85.8) | 86.6 (82.8–90.4) |
| > 15 y | 2,176 (30.2) | 77.4 (75.6–79.1) | 77.0 (74.7–79.3) | 77.0 (73.3–80.6) | 79.3 (75.3–83.4) |
| < 5 y | 2,395 (33.3) | 74.2 (72.5–76.0) | 73.7 (71.5–75.8) | 75.8 (72.0–79.7) | 74.7 (69.7–79.6) |
| ≥ 5 y | 4,807 (66.7) | 79.8 (78.7–81.0) | 79.0 (77.6–80.5) | 79.9 (77.5–82.4) | 82.8 (80.1–85.5) |
| Season | |||||
| Rainy | 4,194 (41.8) | 78.9 (77.7–80.0) | 78.9 (77.4–80.4) | 79.6 (77.4–81.8) | 77.2 (74.1–80.3) |
| Dry | 3,008 (58.2) | 75.6 (73.9–77.3) | 73.9 (71.9–76.0) | 71.9 (66.8–77.0) | 87.2 (83.7–90.7) |
| Any fever | |||||
| Presence | 4,397 (61.2) | 81.5 (80.1–83.0) | 80.1 (78.2–81.9) | 82.8 (79.7–86.0) | 86.7 (83.2–90.2) |
| Absence | 2,791 (38.8) | 75.1 (73.7–76.5) | 75.5 (73.8–77.2) | 74.8 (71.6–77.9) | 73.8 (69.7–77.8) |
*
Sample size for analysis.