Table 2 Turnaround time for the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia panel plus versus standard microbiological methods.

From: Rapid syndromic PCR testing in patients with respiratory tract infections reduces time to results and improves microbial yield

Diagnostic method

Patients (n)

Turnaround time

Time differencea

p-valuea

FAP plus

96

2.6 (2.2–3.4)

N.A

N.A

In-house PCR

87

24.1 (19.6–27.8)

21.0 (16.3–24.7)

 < 0.001

Sputum culture

96

57.5 (26.9–94.4)

48.6 (24.0–91.5)

 < 0.001

Pneumococcal antigen

62

1.3 (0.9–1.8)

− 1.2 (− 2.0 to (− 0.5))

 < 0.001

POC influenzab

76

–b

–

–

  1. Comparison of the turnaround time for different microbiological diagnostic methods used in this study. Numbers presented are median hours with IQR if not otherwise specified. P-values are calculated with Student’s paired t-test on logarithm-transformed times.
  2. FAP plus, Biomérieux BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia panel plus; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; POC, point of care; N.A., not applicable; IQR, inter-quartile range.
  3. aCompared to the FAP plus.
  4. bTurnaround time was not recorded for the POC Influenza test (ID NOW). It was directly available in the ED, with an analysis time of approximately 15 min.
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