Home cholesterol test kits: Helpful or harmful?

A home health test kit is a medical test approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration that can be purchased without a prescription and used in the privacy of the house. Release of home health testing kits into the market has enabled people to take care of their own health. Misinterpretation of results and delays in treatments are the major concerns of the doctors. In the present study, two cholesterol test kits, Accuchek® Instant plus® and Home Access® Instant Cholesterol Test, were compared. This research focused on user errors and clinical accuracy of the kits. The study was conducted with 30 participants, 15 men and 15 women. Participants tested their overall cholesterol level with both kits. In addition, a clinical cholesterol evaluation, the medical gold standard, was performed. The accuracy of both test kits was evaluated by comparing each of the test kit results with the clinical evaluation. The results of the study showed that inaccuracy of the test kit results did not depend on the type of the test kit used; however, the Accuchek® Instant plus® resulted in a greater correlation between the clinical results and test kit results regardless of the number of user errors.