Assessing Diagnostics At Point-of-care for Tuberculosis

The Assessing Diagnostics At Point-of-care for Tuberculosis (ADAPT) seeks to identify and rigorously assess promising, design-locked point-of-care (POC) tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tests (hereafter referred to as "novel tests") in clinical studies conducted in settings of intended use. Rapid diagnosis and effective treatment are critical for improving patient outcomes and reducing TB transmission. However, nearly one-third of people with TB are not diagnosed or reported to public health authorities.The different types of tests required to reduce this "diagnostic gap" have been described in the form of target product profiles (TPPs) defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The highest priority TPP is that for a point-of-care, non-sputum biomarker-based test to facilitate rapid TB diagnosis using easily accessible samples (i.e., a biomarker-based diagnostic test). The ADAPT study will evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and yield of novel diagnostic tests against a reference standard including sputum Xpert® Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Rifampicin (MTB/RIF) Ultra and sputum mycobacterial culture among adolescents and adults with presumptive TB (based on having TB symptoms, or TB risk factor + positive TB screening test) presenting to outpatient health facilities in high burden countries. In addition, the usability and acceptability of novel TB diagnostic tests will be assessed through direct observations and surveys of routine health workers.