A study has shown that rapid antigen testing(RAT) is prone to being significantly imprecise when administered to asymptomatic children and adolescents. 

The National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency(NECA) on Monday shared the findings of its review of related academic papers issued around the world. 

The study was conducted together with eight members of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, including the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases and the Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 

The findings show that the “sensitivity level”, or the level of precision in detecting positive cases, of rapid antigen testing stood between 27 percent and 43 percent when given to children and adolescents who show no particular symptoms. 

The NECA advised RAT thus should be carried out only when an immediate polymerase chain reaction(PCR) test is unavailable and a displayed symptom is involved. 

Not only low sensitivity to symptom-free cases, but also the difficulty level of conducting tests on children was also attributed to the low precision of rapid antigen testing, it said.