Sexual Health STDs Advantages and Accuracy of Rapid STD Tests By Elizabeth Boskey, PhD facebook twitter linkedin Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, MPH, CHES, is a social worker, adjunct lecturer, and expert writer in the field of sexually transmitted diseases. Learn about our editorial process Elizabeth Boskey, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Elizabeth Molina Ortiz, MD, MPH on October 08, 2020 linkedin Elizabeth I. Molina Ortiz, MD, is board-certified in family medicine. She is a primary care provider with Atrius Health in Boston and was the medical director of Charles River Community Health. Learn about our Medical Review Board Elizabeth Molina Ortiz, MD, MPH on October 08, 2020 Print Rapid STD tests have been designed to save people time, effort, and stress when diagnosing a sexually transmitted infection. Some are performed in the doctor's office or clinic, while others can be done in the comfort and privacy of your home. The aim of these tests is to avoid one of the most common problems seen at STD clinics: people who fail to return for their results. Oftentimes, a person will get up the nerve to be tested only to back out when its time to receive the news. As a result, an infection can be left untreated and allowed to spread to others. Orasure Technologies Overcoming Barriers to Testing A rapid STD test allows you to get your results in minutes rather than days. If the test is positive (meaning that you've been infected), you have the opportunity to get immediate treatment rather than having to come back to fill a prescription. With diseases like HIV, this is important since early treatment translates to a lower risk of illness and a longer lifespan. The newer tests also aim to overcome another factor that keeps many people away: needles and blood. Depending on the disease, a rapid test may only require a swab of body fluid or a urine sample (in addition to the traditional blood or finger prick tests). The Accuracy of Rapid STD Tests Not all rapid tests are created equal. Some have higher sensitivity and specificity than others. Sensitivity is the ability of a test to correctly identify those with the disease (a true positive rate), while specificity is the ability to correctly identify those without the disease (a true negative rate). When testing during acute infection, rapid STD tests offer the average sensitivity and specificity: Gonorrhea: 86% sensitivity and 97% specificity Syphilis: 85% sensitivity and 91% specificity Chlamydia: 86% sensitivity and 97% specificity Hepatitis B: 97% sensitivity and 99% specificity Human papillomavirus: 87% sensitivity and 94% specificity Herpes simplex: 93% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity HIV (at-home, oral swab): 92% sensitivity and 99% specificity Unfortunately, a lower sensitivity rate translates to an increased risk of a false negative result (meaning that a person is given the "all-clear" when he or she is actually infected). With the currently available at-home HIV test, a 92% sensitivity translates to one false negative out of every 15 tests. This is why certain bacterial diseases (like syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia) are more accurately diagnosed with a culture rather than a rapid test. A Word From Verywell The failure rate of at-home tests is as much associated with product misuse (including improper swabbing and testing outside of the window period) as the technical limitations of the tests themselves. Neither the CDC nor ISDA (Infection Disease Society of America) recommends Rapid STD testing. It is for this reason that any positive, inconclusive, or suspicious negative result from an at-home test be followed up with an in-office test at your local clinic or doctor's office. The Best At-Home STD Tests Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Chlamydia and gonorrhea screening. Updated September 23, 2014. Cantor AG, Pappas M, Daeges M, Nelson HD. Screening for syphilis: updated evidence report and systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. 2016;315(21):2328-37. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4114 Khuroo MS, Khuroo NS, Khuroo MS. Accuracy of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests for Hepatitis B surface antigen-A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Exp Hepatol. 2014;4(3):226-40. doi:10.1016/j.jceh.2014.07.008 Pathak N, Dodds J, Zamora J, Khan K. Accuracy of urinary human papillomavirus testing for presence of cervical HPV: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2014;349:g5264. doi:10.1136/bmj.g5264 Al-Shobaili H, Hassanein KM, Mostafa MS, Al-Duways AS. Evaluation of the HerpeSelect Express rapid test in the detection of herpes simplex virus type 2 antibodies in patients with genital ulcer disease. J Clin Lab Anal. 2015;29(1):43-6. doi:10.1002/jcla.21725 Paltiel AD, Walensky RP. Home HIV testing: good news but not a game changer. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(10):744-6. PMID: 23044643 Additional Reading Pilcher CD, Louie B, Facente S, et al. Performance of rapid point-of-care and laboratory tests for acute and established HIV infection in San Francisco. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(12):e80629. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080629 Ying H, Jing F, Fanghui Z, Youlin Q, Yali H. High-risk HPV nucleic acid detection kit-the careHPV test -a new detection method for screening. Sci Rep. 2014;4:4704. doi:10.1038/srep04704