Comparing the Diagnostic Power of Chest CT Scan and RT-PCR in Diagnosis of COVID-19

Proper diagnosis of patients with COVID-19 is one of the challenges in medical centers. RT-PCR is the standard and reference test in diagnosis of patients with COVID-19. This study aimed at accelerating the correct diagnosis of COVID-19 and the diagnostic power of chest CT scan and RT-PCR.

This study was performed in 569 patients with COVID-19 admitted to Golestan-Kermanshah Hospital based on diagnostic chest CT scan. The RT-PCR test was considered as the standard and reference test in diagnosis of COVID-19. Relevant information was extracted from patients' records using a researcher-made checklist. Data analysis was performed in STATA V14.

The mean age of patients was 52.53±16.88 years. Men included 432 (75.9%) patients. In this study, 84% had positive chest CT scan and 84.9% had positive RT-PCR results. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of chest CT scan were 88.7%, 64.8%, and 80.1%, respectively. The sensitivity of chest CT scan was 89.9% in people under 60 years of age and 82.8% in patients over 60 years old. The accuracy of chest CT scan was 84.7% in women and 78.7% in men.

The accuracy of chest CT scan is high in patients with COVID-19 while it cannot definitively detect or rule out COVID-19. Nevertheless, it can be used as a quick tool to classify patients into positive and negative groups.