Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • September 2021
  • Article
  • BMJ Open

Perceptions on Undertaking Regular Asymptomatic Self-testing for COVID-19 Using Lateral Flow Tests: A Qualitative Study of University Students and Staff

By: Marta Wanat, Mary Logan, Jennifer A. Hirst, Charles Vicary, Joseph J. Lee, Rafael Perera, Irene Tracey, Gordon Duff, Peter Tufano, Thomas Fanshawe, Lazaro Mwandigha, Brian D. Nicholson, Sarah Tonkin-Crine and Richard Hobbs
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

Objectives: Successful implementation of asymptomatic testing programmes using lateral flow tests (LFTs) depends on several factors, including feasibility, acceptability and how people act on test results. We aimed to examine experiences of university students and staff of regular asymptomatic self-testing using LFTs, and their subsequent behaviours.
Design and setting: A qualitative study using semistructured remote interviews and qualitative survey responses, which were analysed thematically.
Participants: People who were participating in weekly testing feasibility study, between October 2020 and January 2021, at the University of Oxford.
Results: We interviewed 18 and surveyed 214 participants. Participants were motivated to regularly self-test as they wanted to know whether or not they were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Most reported that a negative test result did not change their behaviour, but it did provide them with reassurance to engage with permitted activities. In contrast, some participants reported making decisions about visiting other people because they felt reassured by a negative test result. Participants valued the training but some still doubted their ability to carry out the test. Participants were concerned about safety of attending test sites with lots of people and reported home testing was most convenient.

Keywords

COVID-19; Self-testing; Health Pandemics; Health Testing and Trials; Behavior

Citation

Wanat, Marta, Mary Logan, Jennifer A. Hirst, Charles Vicary, Joseph J. Lee, Rafael Perera, Irene Tracey, Gordon Duff, Peter Tufano, Thomas Fanshawe, Lazaro Mwandigha, Brian D. Nicholson, Sarah Tonkin-Crine, and Richard Hobbs. "Perceptions on Undertaking Regular Asymptomatic Self-testing for COVID-19 Using Lateral Flow Tests: A Qualitative Study of University Students and Staff." BMJ Open 11, no. 9 (September 2021).
  • Read Now

About The Author

Peter Tufano

Finance
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Crises and Collective Purpose: Distraction or Liberation?

    By: P. Tufano
    • February 1, 2022
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    Business Schools Must Do More to Address the Climate Crisis

    By: Concepción Galdón, Knut Haanaes, Daniel Halbheer, Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Katell Le Goulven, Mike Rosenberg, Peter Tufano and Amelia Whitelaw
    • August 13, 2021
    • American Banker

    New Child Tax Credit Should Be a Call to Action for Banks

    By: Bob Neuhaus, Daniel Schneider and Peter Tufano
More from the Authors
  • Crises and Collective Purpose: Distraction or Liberation? By: P. Tufano
  • Business Schools Must Do More to Address the Climate Crisis By: Concepción Galdón, Knut Haanaes, Daniel Halbheer, Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Katell Le Goulven, Mike Rosenberg, Peter Tufano and Amelia Whitelaw
  • New Child Tax Credit Should Be a Call to Action for Banks By: Bob Neuhaus, Daniel Schneider and Peter Tufano
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College